Sky on Fire I: Slow Burn
by Killaurey
Summary: AU after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Inocentric. Shikamaru didn’t choose her for the mission because she was weak. Furious at him, and at herself, Ino decided to change that – but sometimes change is a bumpy road to walk.
1. Chapter 1: Resolve

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 01 Resolve  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 1 of ? Ino-centric.

**PLEASE NOTE: **In later chapters this story becomes **OC heavy** (due to being in a different country for an international exam). If you **do not like OCs** in any capacity then this **probably isn't the story for you.**

* * *

Moonlight glimmered on the plants in the heated greenhouse, one of the greenhouses where her family grew flowers all year around, and Ino was careful not to disturb the silence of the place as she unlocked the door and let herself in.

The warmer air was like a slap to her face and she shivered. Finding the stool that her father kept here for doing repairs—he liked being surrounded by plants while he worked—Ino set it in the middle of one of the rows and sat down. She liked it here, at night. There was a quiet power to the sleeping place and more than anything she found that soothing right now.

Shaking her head and hugging her knees to her chest, heels balancing on the edge of the stool, Ino stared up through the glass roof of the greenhouse at the stars. She could barely see them. Her mother didn't like it when she went to the greenhouses at night. Said she was better off getting a full night's rest.

Well, there were times when Ino didn't care about what her mother said.

This was one of those times. For her, the greenhouses always had been the best place to think and right now she needed that. Ino would deal with the scolding she would get in the morning.

Chouji was in the hospital—no one sure if he'd make it or not—and the surety that had it not been for Tsunade-sama's presence he'd already be dead was cheap consolation. She wanted to see him with her own eyes. Shikamaru was still there; they'd kicked her out.

No matter that she was their teammate. She hadn't been on the mission and therefore under the confidentiality laws that all shinobi were required to abide by... she wasn't allowed to be there. She wasn't allowed to wait for news. It hurt. Ino knew Shikamaru would tell her about Chouji's condition. He always told her what she wanted to know when it was just the two of them, but that didn't change the fact that she had wanted, still wanted, to be waiting in the hall for news herself. Second-hand news wasn't the same. Ino wondered if he'd tell her about...

No. Ino bit her lip and blinked rapidly. She wouldn't ask him about that.

After all, she had all the pieces.

It had filtered down—some through the grapevine (Konoha shinobi were terrible gossips) and some from Sakura, who'd looked worse than Ino felt now. It had filtered down: Uchiha Sasuke had left for Oto and Tsunade-sama hadn't the shinobi to spare to send a higher ranked team after him.

So she had picked Shikamaru, who was no more than a wet-behind-the-ears rookie Chuunin and made him leader. Told him to pick the strongest Konoha Genin and go.

He hadn't picked her. That hurt. A choking, bitter anger that made her eyes water and her arms tremble yet didn't stop the hollow ache in her chest. He'd picked Chouji who'd done no better in the Exam than she had.

And now Chouji was in the hospital.

So was Hinata's cousin, and Kiba. Rock Lee had been checked back in with a severe scolding for running off before being properly rehabilitated. Naruto was in the hospital - rumor had it that he was barely clinging to life.

But Ino could see why he'd picked the others—even Rock who'd gone without permission. They were strong. Anyone could see that. It was obvious.

Ino knew why he hadn't picked her. There was no need to ask him.

She was weak. Too little chakra, too few combat ninjutsu. Not strong enough, not fast enough. Not good enough. That was all there was to it. So simple, yet the realization burned like bile in the back of her throat. Swiping furiously at her watering eyes, Ino nearly missed the quiet sound of the glass door opening behind her.

"Ino?" It was Shikamaru, sounding three parts exhausted and one part concerned.

She made sure her face was dry before turning to face him. In the near dark he might not notice. If he did, then well, maybe he'd think it was over Chouji.

"What is it?" She couldn't see his face clearly, but long familiarity with his features letting her know when he frowned at her flat tone.

"Chouji's surgery was a success."

Climbing to her feet, she pasted on a smile, kunoichi lessons letting her keep it looking real—even while she didn't feel it. Ino had always been good at the traditional kunoichi arts. "That's great! He'll be okay then?" She hadn't known that he'd needed surgery. Hadn't had the clearance to know that. That hurt too. Shouldn't a teammate know that?

Shikamaru rubbed his face wearily, fighting back a yawn and doing it badly. "Hokage-sama thinks so. Says he'll wake up in a few days."

"You should get some rest," Ino told him, tugging on his arm more gently than she would have had it been any other day. "We can go see him in the morning. You're exhausted."

Keeping up a line of similarly concerned chatter she got him out of the greenhouse and half the way to his house before he managed to shake her off with a half-hearted grumble and the promise to meet up with her in the morning.

Ino watched him walk off. The smile on her face didn't fade until she was sure he was out of sight. Then she turned and deliberately walked in the opposite direction. Never mind that it wasn't where her house was.

She wasn't the exhausted one. Ino knew she could go without a bit of sleep.

It was like a slow burn. An anger that she could use. Tight in her throat, her heart, her head. She was weak.

Well, she could fix that. Starting now, right now, she'd fix that.

Reaching the training ground that Team 10 used, Ino tied her hair back securely, and began to stretch. When she was warmed up she ran laps around the area until she was panting and her legs felt weak. Then, as the sky started turning pink, she began working on the basic Taijutsu forms that she'd been taught at the Academy. She'd have to figure out a proper schedule later, but right now it felt good, so good, just to move.

She wouldn't let herself be weak again. A fire burned in her mind. Slow, but deep. Anger that she couldn't, wouldn't lash out with. Anger at herself, at Shikamaru, at Hokage-sama. She'd turn that anger into motivation. Use it to push herself past her limits.

So that next time Shikamaru would ask for her.

Slow burn.

It would be her way as a ninja.

* * *

R&R, please!


	2. Chapter 2: Changes

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 02 Changes  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 2 of ? Written for 50shinobi on livejournal. Unbeta'd. Shika/Ino.

* * *

It was three in the morning and Shikamaru couldn't sleep. 

He had brought Ino to visit Chouji yesterday, which he thought had done them all good, even if Ino had gone quiet when Chouji had asked about the others. She'd left quickly after that. It wasn't until she'd been gone for a half an hour that they had realized what was odd.

Ino hadn't said a single word about the mission.

It wasn't that he'd thought she'd come crying and snivelling all over him (she had more sense than _that_, thank goodness) but it would have been nice if she'd done more than merely smile and say she was glad they were going to be fine. He expected her to rail at him, at Chouji, and make her opinion of them not taking her along known.

Not a word about her lack of participation. That made him nervous. Ino was the type of girl who didn't let any that sort of event go past without a raging tantrum.

Ino had Opinions about things. That she wasn't sharing them meant something was up.

Staring at his ceiling wasn't giving him any answers about that. Girls were weird and Ino tended to be weirder than most of them. Of course, he was biased - he was stuck with her on the same team.

In this though he had thought that he'd had her marked. A few screaming fits, some tears, and her beating him into the ground in training area ten. That would have been troublesome... but this, he thought, was rather worse.

It wasn't like he hadn't thought of her when Hokage-sama had told him to take a team and go. But Hokage-sama had been specific that only the strongest Genin could go. Ino might be in the running for cleverest or sneakiest ninja their age - but not strongest.

That she hadn't come along had also meant that she had been safe.

He valued that too, though he hadn't realized how much until he'd been home and seen her anxious face at the hospital waiting for news. Shikamaru sat up and ran a hand through his unbound hair. He wasn't going to think about what would have happened to her had she come.

He'd made the right decision. This way everyone lived - though it had been a near thing - and Ino hadn't been there. He was going to have nightmares about Chouji though. Neji, and Naruto too. Kiba had gotten off fairly lightly all things considered, but just the thought of how close they had come to dying...

Tossing off his covers Shikamaru padded over to his desk and switched on the lamp. He wasn't going to get any sleep with thoughts like that running through his mind. All he could do was track her down and see if she'd tell him what was up.

He fell asleep at his desk.

_Ino was there, in a white room with no furniture but a low table - but she didn't look like any Ino that he'd ever seen. She was wearing a sky blue kimono with wide sleeves. Her hair was down and she looked like she'd been crying. When she noticed him Ino turned away and buried her face in her hands._

_He took a few steps forward before he realized that she wasn't getting any closer._

_"Ino?" Shikamaru was worried - this girl wasn't the Ino that he knew. For one thing, she looked older but there was the indefinable certainty that this was Ino. "What's the matter?"_

_For a long moment he thought that she wouldn't answer him but then one arm moved and she pointed tremulously to the left._

_He looked and saw a window. Shikamaru narrowed his eyes at it. That hadn't been there before. "You want me to look over there?"_

_She pointed more insistently._

_Shrugging his shoulders he raised his hands, "I'm going, I'm going."_

_It was, he realized upon approach, not quite a window. Mirror was the better word. With one glance back at Ino, Shikamaru steeled himself and looked._

_There was Ino. His Ino. Only it was her after she'd been tortured, and left to the mercies of the enemy until the blue eyes she looked at him with were empty of any spark that he could call Ino. Someone had broken her. Her hair was matted with blood, both her arms unnaturally twisted in several places. He could tell that someone had taken a hammer to her hands._

_Shikamaru turned away, swallowing bile. _

_The older Ino was facing him now, her face carefully immobile, hands crossed over her stomach._

_"What," he managed after a few deep breaths, "was the point of that?"_

_Older Ino cocked her head at him._

_"_Tell me."

_She looked at him then, with wide eyes, "You failed." Her voice was hardly more than a whisper._

_It shook him. "What do you mean I failed? Failed at what?"_

_Older Ino looked sad, "She needed you to be strong, to believe in her. It is your fault that it happened."_

_His hands shook. Shikamaru stilled them carefully. "I don't believe that."_

_Around them the room started to fade away. The table disappeared and older Ino bowed to him, _

_"As you wish."_

_He shook his head, bewildered._

_"But remember," Shikamaru heard her say as around them darkness came creeping in, "you failed."_

He came awake with a start. Shikamaru closed his eyes and breathed deeply trying to still his speeding heartbeat. "Moron," he muttered to himself, "Ino's safe. It was just a stupid dream."

That didn't comfort him as much as it might have for some reason. He'd have to watch out for her then.

* * *

Her hands hurt. Taijutsu had never been her focus before - and it was one thing that sorely needed improvement according to Asuma-sensei - and the work was hard on her hands as she hit at the practice logs with precision. 

She had one hundred more strikes to do with this hand and then she would be able to switch to the other. It was early morning and the sweat that she had built up made her clothes stick to her body.

As she worked Ino thought about what she should do about the obvious bruises on her hands, training bruises yes, but they were unsightly and Ino didn't want the boys questioning her about her new found resolve. It was hers for the moment.

Ino wanted it to remain that way for as long as possible. This wasn't something she could explain in words. Anger would lash out and she couldn't afford that. Ino needed that anger now for training.

There was a quiet cough at the edge of the training area. She spun around and sank into a defensive pose, a kunai flying from her hand before Ino had quite realized what she was doing.

"Bravo, Ino-kun!" Suzume-sensei clapped her hands together, side-stepping neatly out of the path of the kunai, "It is nice to see that you've been training hard."

"S-suzume-sensei!" Ino flushed, both at the unexpected praise and the fact that she'd attacked without thinking about it, "I didn't mean to - "

"Come now, Ino-kun, no harm was done and it was a very nice move." Suzume-sensei gently rebuked her while coming over to where Ino was standing. Her former teacher winked at her from over her glasses, "You must always be on guard."

Ino huffed and took a long swallow of her canteen. "Were you just passing by?" She asked politely.

"Ah no, no." She took a seat on top of one of the practice logs. Ino envied the older woman her grace and how she managed to look completely at home in the practice area. Suzume-sensei taught the girls the kunoichi specific classes. "I came to talk to you."

Now she seemed slightly embarrassed.

Ino leaned against a different log and sipped from her water again, "To me? About what?"

"Because of... current events... I have been called out on a mission." Suzume-sensei told her while holding up one finger to her mouth to show it was a secret, "But there is no one Chuunin or Jounin ranked to take my place in teaching."

Ino had a funny feeling that she knew where this was going, "M-me?" She managed to squeak out, "You want me to teach? I haven't even been a Genin for a full year!"

Suzume-sensei waved one hand as if to show that it was of no account, "It would matter in some cases, yes, but your grades are the highest in the kunoichi arts for the last eleven years."

Ino flushed. She had known that she was good at them - but to find that she was_ that_ good at them was something else entirely. "That's not the same as teaching though," she felt the need to point out, "I could be awful at that."

"You would have to work at being that." Suzume-sensei told her serenely, "It is your mission until I am back - Hokage-sama's orders you understand - so you'd best try not to be awful."

Ino went white, "I start _today_?"

"I am not gone yet, yes?" Suzume-sensei peeked over her glasses, "Today I'll show you the lesson plans and tell you about the girls. They are a good bunch - you shouldn't have much trouble with them."

Ino nodded her head as Suzume-sensei jumped from the log and ushered her out of the field. Her hands ached and she stuck them behind her as they took to the roofs. "How long will this... mission last?"

Suzume-sensei looked at her, "At least two weeks if all goes well I shall be back, if not then well, as long as it takes."

There was nothing that Ino could say to that. It was a fact of shinobi life that there were missions that shinobi didn't come back from. She shivered as they landed on the roof of the Academy.

"Hurry, hurry," Suzume-sensei told her as she headed for the doors, "If we are quick I will show you how to detect unmasked chakra signatures - it is a good way to know when the children are trying to disobey. It's not as elegant as having eyes in the back of our heads but it is something."

* * *

Sakura tried to keep a cheerful expression on her face as she went about the duties that she had been assigned while Tsunade-shishou was busy healing people and dealing with the paperwork that had been neglected since the Sandaime's death, but from the peculiar expressions she was getting she knew that she wasn't fooling anyone. 

Naruto hadn't yet woken up. Kakashi-sensei had reported that he'd been slightly conscious at the scene of the fight - which, from what she had heard, had been phenomenal. Chouji would be in the hospital for at least another month and Neji a few more days.

She was so glad that they'd all come back alive. It had been her fault, at least partially, that they'd nearly died after all.

Sakura blinked back the tears that kept coming at unexpected moments lately and hurried down the hall. The scrolls she had to bring to Shizune-senpai were carefully cradled in her arms. She brightened a bit at the thought that the dark haired woman might teach her something if she didn't have anything pressing to do.

There was the sound of footsteps behind her and then, "Haruno-san?"

Sakura frowned as she turned. She didn't recognize the voice as one of the staff. Sakura found herself looking at a tall woman with red markings on her face. Akamaru was beside her. He barked at her, his tail wagging.

"Hello?" She tried to smile at this woman who had to be related to Kiba in some way, it wasn't so hard to make it look real when she looked at Akamaru, "Can I help you?"

"Are you busy?" The woman asked, "My brother wanted to talk to you - he's being discharged today, you know - and doesn't know when he'll have a chance to talk to you next."

She blinked, "Kiba wants to talk to me?" Sakura hefted the scrolls, "I can talk for a while, Shizune-senpai won't mind."

"Good. I'm Inuzuka Hana, by the way." The tall woman introduced herself, "I'm helping him get home."

Sakura followed the woman to Kiba's room. "I'll wait outside until you're done." Inuzuka-san said, opening the door for her, "Shout if you need anything."

Still holding the scrolls that she was supposed to deliver Sakura entered. She ignored the squirming bit of fear in her stomach that worried that Kiba would blame her for his injuries. To her relief he gave her a crooked smile as Akamaru followed in behind her, nails clicking on the floor tiles. When the door was shut behind her Sakura couldn't help but wince a bit.

"Sit," He suggested cheerfully as helped Akamaru up onto his bed. "I won't bite."

She gingerly set the scrolls down on one of the chairs and then took the other one somewhat nervously. "What did you want to talk about Kiba-kun?" The honorific slipped out before she could help herself. Well, he had earned it.

"You." He gave her a frank, appraising glance that made her wish that there were times that she wasn't so inclined to forget that the Inuzuka Clan was praised for their senses - Kiba did such a good job of being well... Kiba... that she didn't think about it that much.

She stiffened nervously, "What about me?"

"Akamaru's been telling me about you." He said it as if she should have guessed, "He says that you smell mostly of guilt and sorrow." Kiba rubbed his face, "It doesn't take a genius to guess what you'd be feeling that about."

Sakura flushed and stared down at her hands.

"Enough of that!" Kiba said sharply, "I didn't say that to make you feel bad."

"What did you say it for?" She fired back, taking refuge in anger when embarrassment became too acute.

"Stop blaming yourself." He told her simply, "Uchiha left under his own power."

Did he really? She wondered, he hadn't been the same since the Forest...

"I know he's your teammate." Kiba said with a sharp laugh, "I don't know what I'd do if that happened to Team 8, so I can't tell you to forget him - but don't keep thinking about it like that, just don't. He's not worth that - he's the one that left Konoha."

"That's what you wanted to talk to me about?" She asked him, her heart feeling heavy in her chest.

"Well, yeah," He gave her a smile that didn't reach his eyes, "You're one of us - and he's not. It's that simple."

But it wasn't that simple, Sakura thought, Sasuke-kun had been on her team. That he had left after both Naruto and she had tried to keep him just meant that they hadn't been good enough. Tsunade-shishou had told her what Orochimaru no doubt intended for Sasuke's body. She shuddered. It wasn't simple at all. How did you explain that there was a hole in the team that couldn't be filled by anyone else?

"Think on it." Kiba told her, his eyes for once solemn, "Your opinion of Uchiha isn't going to be shared by many. I'd talk to your friend about it."

She nodded and holding the scrolls said awkwardly, "I'm glad that you're feeling better."

"So am I." He laughed.

She left already making room in her schedule for another meeting - she'd have to talk to Ino.

* * *

Nobody had ever called him stupid - except for Ino. 

As such it didn't take him long to figure out that she was avoiding him. The first day he'd put it down to the fact that they both had separate missions - as a Chuunin he was needed on higher level missions than they could let Genin on - and with Asuma-sensei being flooded with missions there was no way that Team 10 could function as a team. The second time it had happened he'd been more irritated because he'd asked around the Mission Center and learned that she was supposed to be free.

Whatever, he'd figured she was out with friends.

Two weeks later though he was starting to get the hint - and it was pissing him off. He hadn't done anything to her to make her avoid him. Shikamaru tried not to think about how much he wanted to see her. It only made him crankier.

He'd gotten a bare glimpse of her, or at least someone who looked a great deal like her a week ago talking with the kunoichi teacher from the Academy. The next time he'd gotten a glimpse of her, later that same day, she'd been heading towards the Mission Center with a resolute expression on her face. He'd barely had time to notice that she was wearing bandages on her arms and hands before he'd had to get back to work.

A bit of surreptitious finagling had gotten him her last few mission reports. She hadn't been hurt on any of them and he was tempted to think that the bandages were just another crazy fashion statement of hers.

Except that she _hated_ things on her hands.

Wandering past the Academy he let his eyes skim disinterested over the sight of a kunoichi class. The sound of the teacher's voice reached his ears.

"As kunoichi each and every one of you is a precious flower – "

He paused. Blinked. Then took a second look. Was that _Ino?_ _Teaching_?

Concealing himself under the boughs of a nearby tree Shikamaru watched, hardly listening, as Ino conducted her class of kunoichi wannabes. She looked alright, he admitted, grudgingly. The bandages were on her hands and all the way up to her elbows but they didn't seem to affect her movement. Ino, while fashion conscious, would never wear something that interfered with her being a kunoichi. She was as graceful as always, her hands emphasizing what she was telling the class.

She looked… _happy_.

It rattled him, just a bit, to see her like that. If you'd asked him about Ino teaching he'd have laughed. Teaching required more patience than she had. Yet, there she was, blue eyes bright as she lectured.

He'd learned something new today then. It irritated him that he hadn't already known it - after all he knew her since before they could walk.

"Alright class, spread out and gather the flowers for your first arrangement. Remember, you just have to pick a center piece and then build the rest around it."

"Hai, Ino-sensei!" Her class of children scattered with bright laughter.

Shikamaru decided to amble over looking nonchalant. He'd not get to the bottom of this, and she was his teammate so it was his right to know, if he didn't put some small effort into it, "This is your current mission?" As if that wasn't obvious, he scoffed.

Ino didn't jump as he'd half expected her to. She'd known he was there then. She gave him a smile that looked just a bit like a smirk. "Suzume-sensei was needed for a mission and she recommended I take over in the interim."

Shikamaru gave her a long glance, before saying, "Only Chuunin and above can teach at the Academy." _You're not qualified Ino_.

Her mood changed instantaneously, "They need all the Chuunin they've got on more important missions, you stupid fool," her eyes dared him to deny it, and worse was that he couldn't, "the only Chuunin we've got at the Academy is Iruka-sensei. The rest are like me - jumped up Genin with excellent grades."

"Ino," He said slowly, "you're still not qualified."

"I am." She glowered at him, and he scowled right back, "Suzume-sensei recommended my for the post herself. Once Konoha's back to normal then I'll revert to Team 10 again. For now though, I'm in charge of the kunoichi classes."

Man, this was troublesome. Why had he been worrying about her again? She was more than fine. Chouji had been right - nothing was up. With the mission… maybe she'd realized that things were going to have to change.

Ino wasn't going to be able to come along on all of the missions. She was a girl.

"What's Hokage-sama thinking?" He muttered peevishly, "What if you mess up the training?" Taking one look at the glare Ino had on her face he wondered if there had been a better way of putting it. He didn't regret saying it though, poor training could and would cost lives.

'I'm doing just fine." Her voice was hard and cold. That was new, that she had the control not to shriek at the slightest provocation. "I'm not teaching combat – that's what Iruka-sensei's handling. Hokage-sama herself said my marks in the kunoichi classes are the highest in over ten years." There was wounded pride there and Shikamaru winced, fully expecting her to slap him. He might even deserve it.

She turned her back on him, radiating fury, and called to the class, "Time's up, gather around and I'll see what you've got."

"Ino, look, I didn't – "

"Shikamaru, piss off. I'm on a mission."

And that was that. He stalked off, head aching with the discovery of this new Ino. He'd go see Chouji, maybe he'd be able to make sense of the changes in Ino.

Changes he didn't like one bit.

* * *

Stretching her arms and rolling her head back Ino yawned. It had been a long day, but overall she was pleased. The girls were coming along well, after a few false starts where she'd had to lay the law down. Some of the older girls hadn't been impressed with being taught by someone that they'd been in school with. She didn't have any marking to do – though she would tomorrow. The only thing had had pissed her off today was Shikamaru. He was such an idiot at times. She'd wanted to slap him. 

The tenpura-ya Sakura had agreed to meet her at was brightly lit. The booths were comfortable and the server that had brought her water had been friendly. Ino could see why Sakura would like the place beyond her fondness for deep fried vegetables.

Sakura came in a few minutes later looking just as harassed and exhausted as she felt. Because of the shortage of available shinobi they were both being worked harder than normal. It was good training. She smiled at that, her father had agreed to start explaining the theory behind another Yamanaka technique. That he thought she was ready warmed her insides.

"Hey, Ino-pig." Sakura cheerfully greeted her, taking the other side of the booth and smiling at the server that brought both a menu and a glass of water for her.

"Forehead." Ino flapped one hand at her, a grin on her face, "Just hurry up will you? I'm starving."

The speed with which Sakura read the menu hinted that she too was hungry. Once they'd placed their orders, Sakura looked slyly over the edge of her menu while toying with the straw in her water, "Guess what I'm doing right now?"

Ino closed her eyes and thought a moment, before sighing and shrugging, "No idea what you'd do." When she'd gotten the teaching assignment Ino had half expected to see Sakura there as well.

"Tsunade-sama took me on as an apprentice." There was no mistaking the pride in her voice.

Well, that was news. Ino blinked and took a long swallow of her water wondering why she hadn't heard from Sakura about it before. Some of her hurt must have shown because Sakura continued on hurriedly.

"It's pretty new, less than two weeks, but she's working me hard – you should see the pile of texts that she made me take home and study…"

Ino relaxed a bit as Sakura's chatter washed over her. New, then? It seemed the both of them had had the same idea. It wasn't only the boys that would prove their worth to Konoha. And, Ino had to admit that once she thought about it… it would suit Sakura perfectly. Her perfect chakra control would be an asset in her chosen field. It was good choice.

Not for her though. Ino wrinkled her nose, being a medic held no appeal to her - she was a Yamanaka for a reason. Though… that did give her an idea, thinking on it Ino gave her friend a real smile, "You sound like you enjoy it."

Sakura beamed at her, "It's hard though, but Tsunade-sama explains things better than Kakashi-sensei ever did."

That's because Hatake-san wasn't a teacher. Though Ino would rather bite her own tongue than tell Sakura that. She'd over heard Asuma-sensei talking with Yuuhi-san about it. Ino had done her own research, Hatake-san was no doubt an excellent shinobi but for a teacher… she was glad she'd gotten Asuma-sensei.

"You've got bandages on your arms." Sakura noted, "Are you hurt? They're not in fashion."

"Nah," Ino stretched to show that she had full mobility and remained quiet as their order was brought out. When the server was gone she grinned at her friend, "just bruises from training. "

"You've been training hard then." Sakura observed with a familiar competitive glint in her eyes.

"Of course," Ino took a long swallow of her drink and picked up her chopsticks, "like I'd lose to you."

They ate and talked about inconsequential things for a while before Ino voiced her question, "Do you think anyone would be willing to teach me medical ninjutsu?" She didn't think that it would be a bad thing to learn a bit of. She could handle more training and this kind would be an asset in the field.

Sakura looked startled, "Do _you_ want to be a medic-nin?" Her voice was suspicious and Ino could tell that she was gearing up if the answer was yes to turn this into another competition. Well, while there was a part of Ino that wanted to do just that… Ino was too busy these days to seriously consider it.

"No," Ino shook her head lightly, "I just thought that it would be a useful thing to know some medical ninjutsu while out in the field. Just a precaution, you know?"

Sakura relaxed. "I could probably find someone at the hospital." she admitted easily, "Tsunade-sama isn't going to object - she's been advocating the creation of more medic-nin for years and while what you want isn't the same thing… she'll approve. I wonder if Shizune-senpai could…"

"That'd be great, thanks Sakura." Ino meant it. This was something that she could use and it would also benefit her team as a whole… though, she frowned, Shikamaru might keep her even further from actual combat on the basis that she was the medic and had to stay safe. Ugh. He was such a_ boy_ at times.

Sakura, seeing her changed expression, raised her eyebrows, "What's the matter?"

"Ugh." Ino wrinkled her nose, "Shikamaru came by during my mission and – he makes me so mad!"

"You're teaching the kunoichi right?" Sakura looked interested, "I saw the confirmation papers for that – specially recommended by Suzume-sensei. Not bad."

Ino nodded her head, "Anyways, he started going on about how I'm not qualified and that I might mess up their training – "

"Like he'd know anything about kunoichi training." Sakura commented dryly.

"Exactly!" Ino rolled her eyes, "I told him that Iruka-sensei's the one who is handling the taijutsu training in the interim. Tenten-san, from Rock's team, is doing the weapons."

"There's no way you'd have any problems teaching the actual kunoichi arts." Sakura agreed, "You always were the best at that in school."

Ino fought the urge to preen. It would have cost Sakura something to admit that out in the open and the least she could do was not rub it in. "Isn't he an ass though?"

"I'm surprised that you didn't hurt him."

"I wanted to." Ino admitted ruefully, "But I was teaching and I've learned that the girls follow my example. That's not what I want them to pick up, and on a mission that's not acceptable behavior."

"You'll do fine." Sakura assured her and then took a look at the clock, "l should start heading home – studying, you know - "

"Hey, no problem." Ino daintily used her napkin and pushed her plate aside, digging out the money to pay, "I'm going to go visit Chouji." Then she'd go and train. Ino tried to keep Chouji up-to-date on everything she heard.

"I haven't seen him." Sakura admitted, "I feel awful about his injuries… like it's all my fault that he got hurt."

"Hey," Ino patted her comfortingly, "It's Uchiha's fault. Not yours."

'Not Sasuke-kun?" Sakura had a strange expression on her face.

"Never Sasuke-kun again." Ino said firmly, her eyes blazing, "Not after what he caused both Chouji and Shikamaru to go through. How's Naruto doing?"

Sakura shook her head and Ino took that as a clue to remain silent until they could talk more freely. Leaving the tenpura-ya they walked through the streets of Konoha for a few minutes before giving each other a long look and taking to the rooftops.

"He's…" Sakura hugged herself, looking depressed, "Physically, he's doing better. He's taken his failure bad though. Jiraiya-sama's talking about taking him on a training trip, which might help him feel better."

Ino didn't know about Naruto, but being exclusively trained by one of the sannin would have made her feel better. Still though, she was more concerned about Sakura, "What about you?"

"I don't know." Sakura laughed, a brief self-conscious laugh, "I don't know what to think so I'm trying not to at the moment. It's easier that way."

"You should come see Chouji." Ino offered, "That's the least you can do, after all that's happened. Have you seen any of them besides Naruto?"

"Kiba." Ino glanced at her with surprise and Sakura elaborated, "I was doing something for Tsunade-sama and Kiba was checking out with his family. We talked."

"Did that make you feel better?" Ino asked as they deftly jumped from one building to the next, "I haven't really seen the others. But then, I have my teammates to worry about."

"It did." Sakura seemed surprised, "It did make be feel a bit better. Do you think Chouji would mind if I talked to him?"

"Nah," Ino knew that he'd be pleased to have another visitor, "Chouji will be glad to see you, he's like that."

When they got to the hospital Sakura stopped her from going to the receptionist and instead led her down a hallway different from the one she normally went down.

"Where are we going?" Ino asked after a minute, "We are visiting Chouji aren't we?"

Sakura stopped and looked at her, "I thought Shizune-senpai might still be here – often she works late – and that you could talk to her while I… talk with Chouji."

Ino nodded her head. That was a good plan, it took care of two things at once and it gave Sakura a bit of privacy. "That's fine then, do you think Shizune-san will take me?"

"If she's got the time." Sakura continued down the hall with the ease of someone who has learned their way around the place, "She very busy after all, so she might have to find someone else to teach you."

Pausing outside of a closed door Sakura knocked, "Shizune-senpai? Are you in?"

"Come in, Sakura."

Following Sakura into the room, which was wide and neat holding a desk and a few chairs.

Against the walls were several filing cabinets that looked to be full, what wall space that the cabinets hadn't taken had bookcases in their place. Before she knew it Sakura had introduced the two of them, made her excuses and left to seek out Chouji.

The silence she left behind was slightly awkward. Ino fidgeted.

Shizune-san was a pretty looking woman with dark hair held back by pins. She looked tired enough that Ino suddenly felt hesitant in asking the woman to do yet another thing.

"So you're Sakura's friend." Shizune-san observed, her dark eyes giving her a once over, "I've heard a bit about you."

What Sakura had told her, Ino wasn't sure she wanted to know. They were friends yes, but also rivals. She held back the questions that sprang to mind – if Sakura had said anything unflattering then Shizune-san would probably lie.

"Sit down and tell me what you've come for." The medic-nin gestured to the chair in front of the desk, "Sakura's going to get a bit of a lecture on manners. "

"She's was thinking about something else." Ino murmured, staring at her hands, "please forgive her."

"Huh?" Shizune-san looked startled, "I suppose it's not that big a deal and I am glad she's got a bit more confidence. What did you want from me then, Yamanaka-kun?"

Straight and to the point. Ino found herself warming to this woman. "I was hoping you could point me to someone who would be willing to teach me the rudiments of the medical art."

Shizune-san frowned at her, "Your Clan's specialty is in assassination, infiltration and sabotage. Why would you want to learn medical techniques? They aren't easy even if you've got a flair for them."

Ino sat up straighter, "The missions that my Clan is made for I wont be given until I'm Chuunin at the least. If we were operating under full war-time conditions, I might have a chance at being sent out, but even with the current disarray…" she shook her head, "As it stands knowing medical ninjutsu might one day save my teammates life."

Shizune-san thought it over.

Ino bit her lip and said nothing. This a decision she would have to accept, no matter what the end result was. It was dangerous attempting to learn medical jutsu's without a teacher. The chakra could easily escape her control and kill her.

"It won't be easy," The woman warned, "if you don't have some talent for it there isn't going to be much I can teach you."

"I know that," while Sakura's revelation had come as a surprise, Ino had made it her business to know as much as she could about all types of shinobi and there had been plenty of material in the Academy libraries, "but I still want to learn."

Shizune nodded thoughtfully before turning and looking at the calendar on the wall behind her,

"What are the current hours of your mission?"

That sounded promising. "Five-thirty until one, Monday to Saturday. At the Academy. Sometimes a bit later." She'd not been free until three today – several of the class had stayed behind to ask her questions.

"And after that?"

"Mostly training," Ino said simply, "and helping out part-time at the flower shop." If it was for training Ino thought that they'd understand if she cut her hours at the shop even more.

"That's good then." Shizune-san gave her a smile, "I'll be seeing you then, starting tomorrow, every day from four to eight."

"You'll be teaching me? Sakura thought you might be too busy." Ino blinked her surprise, she hadn't dared think that Shizune-san would actually teach her.

"I could do nothing else." Shizune-san told her with a rueful grin that Ino couldn't help returning,

"Tsunade-sama is very vehement about training more medic-nin, and she'll approve of this once I tell her about it. The second question she'd ask is who's teaching her - and she'd never let me live it down if it wasn't myself. So long as I'm teaching you, I'll be one of your sensei."

"Yes, Shizune-sensei. Thank you very much!"

The woman got out of her seat and went to one of the bookshelves and tugged down five or six volumes. Putting them on the desk in front of Ino she said casually, "Sakura might have mentioned having to read a lot – that's true. These are what I want you to start with, they're in order so don't mix them up. If you want to compare notes with her keep in mind that her education is progressing differently. Sakura's getting everything Tsunade-sama's got to teach while you'll be getting enough to make you an effective field medic."

"Yes, Shizune-sensei." Ino carefully took the books.

Her newest teacher looked at her for a long moment, "Try to read the first few chapters in the top book tonight – it'll give you a better idea of what I'll be starting with tomorrow."

Ino, knowing a dismissal when she heard one, bowed as best as she could with a stack of books in her arms then excused herself from the room.

* * *

It was all very well, she thought ruefully, to promise that she was going to go and talk to Chouji. Sakura though was finding it a different thing altogether to actually bring herself to knock on the door and go through with her promise. 

Biting her lip Sakura steeled herself and knocked. Hearing him say come in she cracked the door open and peeked her head inside. "I'm not disturbing you am I?"

Chouji gave her a grin from his bed, as a man that had to be his father turned to look at her. "Oh no, Sakura-san, dad was just leaving."

That got a rumbling laugh from the man. "I'll be back later."

Sakura bowed as the man went by, when he'd shut the door behind him she edged further into the room feeling all of a sudden uncomfortable. "So, um," she stared at her feet, "are you feeling better?"

"Come have a seat," Chouji invited her, "I don't get so many visitors that I want to chase one off."

That made her feel worse that she hadn't come before. Some of that must have shown on her face because his next words were gentler.

"Come on, sit down."

She sat, noting that the chair was still warm from his father sitting there. Sakura twisted a strand of her hair between her fingers, "I wanted to come by earlier." This was said at hardly more than a mumble, "But I wasn't sure of my welcome."

He reached out and patted her shoulder, "Why would you think that..?" Chouji shook his head, "I don't blame you for the mission Sakura."

A bit of weight that she'd hardly been aware of faded. Of all of them she had felt the worst about Chouji - he'd done worse in the exam than she had after all.

"If anything," Chouji continued brightly, "I should be blaming Shikamaru - he's the one that picked me. Let's talk about something else."

Sakura looked at him, startled, "What did you want to talk about?"

"What's been going on lately for you - anything good?"

She flushed, but this time with pleasure, "Tsunade-sama took me as her apprentice!"

* * *

Tracing her way back to the lobby took more time than she would have liked but she was pleased to see Sakura entering the lobby on the opposite side at the same time. 

The girl gave a rueful smile at the stack of books. "Shizune-senpai took you on?"

"You knew she was going to. I bet you just wanted to see me squirm." Ino accused her good naturedly, "Now look at the reading I've got to do."

"Shizune-senpai would never hear the end of it if she hadn't taken you on. Tsunade-sama is very… determined… that all those who want training get it." Sakura, Ino noted, didn't deny the accusation.

"Do you know why?"

Sakura shook her head, "I haven't had the nerve to ask, though what she'd _has_ told me makes sense. It often can mean the difference between life and death on a mission."

Ino let the subject drop and changed to a topic that was far more interesting, "How'd your visit go?"

"It went… well." Sakura fiddled with the hem of her shirt, "Chouji's so nice. You're lucky he's on your team. It was nice to talk with someone who'd gone on the mission and wasn't spouting off about racing after Sasuke the moment he's healed."

Ino winced, "That's Naruto, huh?"

"He made a promise of a lifetime." Sakura rolled her eyes, "I think he should train first. Tsunade-sama told me that we've got nearly three years."

Ino didn't ask what the time limit was for – she doubted Sakura would be able to tell her, and besides drawing attention to her slip of the tongue would only cause both of them trouble thanks to all the confidentiality laws the shinobi operated under.

"Well, I've got to go visit Chouji now." Ino said brightly, then frowned, "Could you do me the favor and drop these off at my house?"

"I could, it's on the way home," Sakura nodded, "But why?"

Ino shrugged, not really having a good reason except that she didn't want to tell Chouji she was studying medical ninjutsu while he was still in the hospital. And if she told Chouji it would get back to Shikamaru and she wasn't talking to_ him_ at the moment.

Some of her frustration must have shown on her face because Sakura held out her arms for the books. "You pay the next time we go out?"

Ino gave her friend a real smile. "Sure, forehead. I'll do that once we've both got time." It didn't sound like she'd have much time for anything in the next while. Shizune wasn't going to go easy on her. That was a good thing.

Then Sakura was gone and Ino, with a wave to the receptionist was heading off to see Chouji. She knocked first on his door – it wouldn't do if he was asleep. When his voice answered she poked her head in with a smile.

He gave her one back. "Ino! How're you?"

"I should be asking you that." She fussed over him and drew up a chair.

He gave her a sidelong glance as if, he wasn't so sure about that. Ino bristled, "What, do I look like there's something wrong with me?"

Chouji smiled at her, and she couldn't stay mad. "No. It's just – " he hesitated and she frowned at him until he continued, "Shikamaru was here earlier and he was angry." Chouji told her finally in a voice that was just above a mumble. He didn't add that it was rare enough to piss Shikamaru off enough that he went and complained about it hours after the fact.

"That makes the two of us then." Ino told him crossly, "I don't want to talk about it."

Chouji frowned but didn't press. He wouldn't she knew unless this state of affairs continued on longer, and while he was still in the hospital if would make it difficult to keep track of the disagreement.

"How much longer until you're out?" Ino asked him instead, "You look a lot better."

He did. It had broken something inside of her the first time she'd seen him lying in the hospital bed with so much weight gone.

"A few more weeks." he told her, "Tsunade-sama wants to make sure I wont have any problems heading back on active duty."

They chattered a while longer about inconsequential things and Ino made sure to keep him up to date on the latest doings of their friends. That was important, and it made him happy. Ino liked to see her friends happy.

When she left him, they both were smiling. After promising to drop by when she could Ino went to the training ground to get a bit more done after all just because it was almost eight didn't mean she hadn't things to do before she had to do before getting up at four.

* * *

He watched her train, he'd been heading home from his mission and stopped by the training area for a bit of relaxation. He'd been surprised to find her there practicing her taijutsu. 

At first Shikamaru had considered going over and speaking with her but watching how she went at the logs with barely contained anger decided that it would be the better part of prudence to let her be for the day.

He could argue with her tomorrow about it. Teaching was serious work after all - no matter who had recommended her to the post. It wasn't fair that she flew off the handle at him when he merely pointed out the holes in her logic.

Instead of going home though, he found himself sitting up in a tree and watching Ino. It was soothing to be able to watch her without any idea that he was there.

* * *

Ino knew, of course, that he was watching. 

While she was still angry with him - how dare he doubt her abilities on a mission? - the taijutsu practice was taking more energy from her than she cared to admit. She didn't want to think about the amount of work that Rock had gone through to obtain his level of proficiency.

His being stuck up in that tree though meant that she wasn't going to practice her ninjutsu the way that she had planned. Just another thing to blame him for.

Finishing up her taijutsu then Ino raced home without a single glance in Shikamaru's direction.

* * *

Reaching home she found her father, Yamanaka Inoichi, fussing with a flower arrangement in their kitchen. He didn't tell anyone, but the stupendous arrangements that sat in the windows of the shop were made by him, rather than his wife. Ino had always figured that he was embarrassed by it. Such an un-macho talent. She loved him anyway. 

"It's that time already?" He looked up at her with a flower caught between his lips and she fought not to giggle as he glanced at the clock. "So it is. Give me a few seconds, princess, and then we'll go down."

Go down. She shivered happily. Downstairs was the room that every Yamanaka had made once they'd found the home that they planned to live in for life. A Balance room. It was a place to study the mind further and perfect the fine control that many of the jutsu's her family specialized in required. The very walls had sealing jutsus woven around and into them to keep their spirit from leaving the room.

She waited impatiently for him as he finished up the bouquet. "Is that a commission or just something you thought up?'' It was a glorious arrangement, very bold and eye catching.

"Commission." He told her absently as he gave the flowers a once over and satisfied set it on the center of the table with a smile. "You mother can take it to the shop tomorrow."

Then he turned and tossed out the scraps, then without another word headed out of the room. Ino followed hot on his heels. He was a bit abrupt she knew, but while some people had found it upsetting she thought it made it easier to get along with him. She was a bit biased however.

The Balance room was a regular room the naked eye. It was only with a doujutsu or the innate sensitivity to it of the Yamanaka's that you could tell it was something different. There was a closed feel to the room that she found comforting. Down here, she would never become lost.

Her father sat at the low table and she took a seat across from him. He looked her over for a minutes. "I've got a mission tomorrow. So we won't be learning the jutsu I promised you." His voice was regretful.

Ino swallowed hard to keep her frustration from leaking out. It was hard - she'd wanted to take the next step into her family's techniques – too often in the Chuunin exam she'd felt like a one trick wonder, "What will I be doing instead?" Because if she wasn't going to be doing anything then he would have told her upstairs.

"I said you wouldn't be learning the jutsu." Inoichi repeated, blue eyes mildly amused, "But you can start learning the control that you'll need."

That was better, even a little bit was a good start. Trying to keep her eagerness in check, Ino leaned forward. "What do I have to do?"

"You told me that your sensei has taught the three of you how to walk up trees and stand on water."

Ino nodded her head. Both activities had helped smooth her control of Shintenshin no Jutsu. She had been pleased with the progress.

"This is quite similar," her father told her, "you'll practice on this ceiling."'

She looked up and couldn't see anything different about it. Of course, not seeing anything didn't mean much amongst shinobi. "There's something on it that'll make it harder to stick?" Ino hazarded a guess. Because really, she could stand upside down for a few hours no problem and not be fully exhausted. The water one was harder.

"Of course." He gave her an approving look, "You won't be using your feet either. You'll start with your hands."

That was new.

"Asuma-sensei said that the hardest place to gather chakra was the bottom of the feet." Ino mused aloud, "What will gathering elsewhere help me with?"

"A good shinobi must be varied." He told her , "And the ability… what if you fall while on water? You wont always be able to catch yourself and land upright. There are times when using your feet won't be possible. While I'm gone I want you to practice sticking to the ceiling with various bits of your body. "

She gave the ceiling a long look. She and it would be getting well acquainted it seemed. At least she could read while stuck to the ceiling. Once she got the hang of it that was, "Yes father. Was there anything else?"

"Build your chakra reserves, at the moment the jutsu I want to teach you would wipe them almost out. You don't want to be drained so fast, chakra exhaustion is dangerous."

That was irritating but Ino couldn't say anything because it was likely true. Her father would no better than she. It was depressing sometimes how far behind everyone she was.

"You may read this." He tossed a small scroll at her, she caught it gently and didn't peek, "You can read that in this room only – it's not to leave the room. "

"Of course." Ino nodded her head, she'd never be allowed to take anything that contained information about her family's techniques out of the room. "What does it contain?"

"A jutsu. Not the one I originally planned to teach you but one I think you'd find more useful at your current level," he told her quietly, "not the seals, because I want to be near to make sure nothing goes wrong but the scroll has the theory behind it, how it was developed, and some of its most common uses."

She nodded her head. While she still wished that her father had the time before his mission to teach her the other jutsu she knew that there was no use complaining about it and that her father was just as irritated by the whole event.

"I'm giving that scroll to you because you wont abuse my trust by attempting to work out how to do it without proper guidance. Not that you would – you're my daughter after all, and know the possible consequences of messing up when it comes to the mind." Under his pleased regard she tried not to preen.

"Yes, Father." Ino hesitated and then took the plunge, "I talked to Shizune-san today and she agreed to teach me medical ninjutsu."

Her father went very still. "I had heard that your friend was apprenticed to the Hokage. Is that was this is about Ino?"

He was irritated with her. Well, she'd put a stop to that - it wasn't what he was thinking anyway, she was a Yamanaka to the bone. She'd never ignore that, "It's not about Sakura. I wanted to learn a bit – not enough to actually be a medic-nin but rather stuff that could keep my team alive until real aid came. A field medic."

By the end of it he was nodding his head. "Alright, yes, I can see that. You can take the training then, but no more than a standard field medic." Ino relaxed, if her father agreed then her mother was hardly going to object. Not if it was to protect her friends.

"How long do you think 'just enough to help' will take?"

She flushed, "Yes, I don't know how long I'll be taking the lessons – a few months at least." Shizune–sensei hadn't struck her as the type to skimp on training and hurry her through it faster, just for the sake of getting it over with.

"What time are the lessons?"

"Four to eight." Which was bit of a pain, as it completely killed her free time, but it was training that would make her stronger in the long run. She thought she could live with it for awhile. Which made her ask, "Do you know if Asuma-sensei's in town?" Ino would need to tell him about her change in studies.

Her father raised one blond eyebrow, "Why don't you just tell him during one of your team meetings?"

She sniffed, her irritation from earlier bubbling up, "Because Shikamaru's the one who he gets to make the strategies and if he knows about it he'll never let me do all I can. He came by today, you know, while at I was at the Academy and straight-out said that I couldn't handle the job they'd given me."

He was frowning at her. "I don't like the idea of you lying to your team. You should tell them Ino, that's something a team is supposed to know."

Ino stared at her hands, unable to fully explain why she didn't want to tell them. She had the feeling that whatever she would say would come out sounding childish when it was anything but. She _needed_ this right now.

"But…" her father continued, with a sigh, "I suppose, if that's the case then tell only your sensei and let him make the final decision. If you explain your reasoning out to him I'm sure there's a chance that he'd keep quiet. He understands that sort of thing Ino."

Ino bowed her head. It was as good as done then. Other children might have tried to change their parents mind but Ino knew her father and when he looked like that it was best just to let it go. She hoped one day to be so formidable.

"Yes, Father." He looked like he was getting up to leave and she tilted her head up at him, "Do you have to leave early for your mission?"

Gone where the days when she'd begged him to tell her where he was going. She understood better now that she was a Genin that he couldn't. A shinobi had to operate in secrecy, otherwise the mission might be jeopardized by loose lips. It was a fact of life. But she could ask what time he had to be up.

"Around nine." He looked amused, and settled back in his chair, "Did you want to practice with Shintenshin or work on your mental defenses?"

"Both if we could." She said plaintively. After her tie to Sakura, Ino had badgered her father into showing her how to improve the defenses of her own mind. At the moment in consisted of separating everything onto two different layers – one important, the other a trap – and then wrapping her presence around the whole until it looked like a single empty plain. Her father's was more complicated, he'd let her have a glimpse of his mind wrought like an underwater garden. The point was to confuse the intruder into thinking they'd made a mistake and then strike out at them from behind.

Nobody beat a Yamanaka at mind games.

He huffed lightly and she knew he was well pleased with her audacity. "Let's work on the mind shield. Shintenshin no jutsu, you know well – it is just a matter of practice and refinement. Practice it on animals – they can serve as a spy when a human would be noticed." She could do that – it was more than she'd hoped for since the moment he'd told her about his mission. It would have been irritating for him to go and not let her practice anything.

They spent the next hour diving in and out of her mind. Tracking down the blurry, uneven lines of her shield and firming them until her mind was in two separate layers and that there were nasty little traps scattered through out the landscape.

The unwary would find an unpleasant end. It was true that in Konohagakure the Yamanaka Clan was the only one with the sort of mental techniques they practiced but new jutsu's were always being invented and it was a fool that didn't prepare for the worst.

When her father let her go, just past ten, she was well pleased with her improvement. Her enjoyment didn't falter after her shower when she found the textbooks Sakura had taken back for her stacked neatly on her bed.

With a sigh, Ino moved them to her desk, grabbed the one Shizune-sensei had told her to start and curled up in bed.

She was working hard. Next time she wouldn't be left behind.

* * *

C&C, please! 


	3. Chapter 3: Progress

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 03 Progress  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 3 of ? Unbeta'd. Shika/Ino.

* * *

Ino fidgeted nervously and knocked sharply on the door. It had taken some work but she'd managed to track down Asuma-sensei's apartment number - and the Chuunin at the Mission Center had told her he was home. From the looks on their faces though she guessed that he wasn't going to be for long. Knowing that this might be the last chance she'd have for weeks – it really depended on the mission – Ino had raced off to see if she could catch him before his next mission did. As it was Sunday the Academy was closed and she had a bit of free time before she had to go meet up with Shizune-sensei at the hospital. 

She'd been trying to get a hold of him for the last week, since her father had told her to, but the Jounin had proved hard to reach. Only to be expected, really, but it was a nuisance just the same when she had had to conduct her search for him around all of her other training.

Shizune-sensei had taken one look at her written schedule and immediately claimed her entire day off for medical training. The training started at seven, which was why she was standing on her sensei's doorstop at just after six in the morning. She'd been up since four. In Ino logic this meant that everyone should have been up by now.

After a few minutes of her standing there waiting and belatedly realizing that not everyone would be awake – let alone willing to come to the door - Ino wondered if she ought to knock again. Surely she hadn't been too late already and that a new mission had come for him? It hadn't taken her more than ten minutes to get from the Mission Center to his place.

The door opened a few inches just as she had made up her mind to knock again. Her teacher's face appeared in the gap. Upon seeing her his eyebrows raised slightly, "Ino?"

"Good morning, Asuma-sensei!" She chirped brightly, unable to hide the fact that she was happy to see him. It was good to see him after so long. "Can I talk to you for a few minutes?"

He opened his door wordlessly, one hand lighting a cigarette as she went past. "It's quarter after six in the morning Ino, what's up?"

"Don't you do any cleaning?" She asked while pretending not to hear his question, "This place obviously needs a woman's touch," Ino gave him a coy look, "Maybe Yuuhi-san could help you?"

He spluttered.

Ino delighted in her victory even as she considered what she was going to tell him exactly. Her father hadn't said that she need to tell her sensei everything after all. She picked at the bandages on her arms and watched as he shut the door.

"How have you been doing?" He asked when he had turned back to her, running one hand through his unkempt hair, "I'm sorry that I haven't been able to keep up with what you've been doing. The boys too."

Ino took the seat he offered her and gave him her best understanding smile. This close she could see that he looked exhausted, "It's alright - we'll be put back together when Konoha can spare you from the higher missions." It wasn't that she didn't miss being on Team 10 - but rather that this break was exactly what Ino needed to work on herself. If she looked at it that way it was hard to complain about the separation.

They made small talk for a few minutes before her sensei managed to talk her back around to why she had come. "It's nice and all that you've come to visit - but what's up?" The look on his face said that she wasn't fooling him.

Ino sighed and then ploughed forward bravely, deciding to tell him most of her practical concerns and reasons for about her decision to start learning medical jutsu - after all, what objections could he have to that? Medical jutsu were a useful skill to have.

"And you don't want it discussed with Shikamaru and Chouji?" He frowned at her.

"Well, just Shikamaru mostly - he's being unreasonable _again_ just because I'm a girl - Chouji would be fine if I knew that he wouldn't tell." Ino shrugged, hiding her unease with casual movements – she'd known from the moment that she'd gotten to that part that he'd ask at least one question about that decision. "I don't want them to know yet."

"That's not a good enough reason to mess with the team Ino." Asuma-sensei's voice was stern, "If it were just your Clan's Techniques in particular I could excuse it, but medical ninjutsu isn't covered under the Clan Confidential. There's no way that it could be outside of a few specific techniques."

She scowled openly. The Clan Confidential, as they had learned at the Academy, was the Hokage's agreement to the village that each Clan had autonomy when it came to divulging information on their techniques. Each Hokage had to sign the agreement anew to signal that it would be upheld during their time as leader. She crossed her arms over her chest and looked away, "I don't want them to know what I'm learning. I _can't,_ Asuma-sensei."

Asuma-sensei took a long pull of his cigarette before replying, "I'll need better reasons than a flat refusal, Ino. It's not done lightly – a team can be ruined by a lack of communication. Why can't you tell them? The full reason please."

Ino hesitated, wondering if she could even fully explain it to herself. How did she explain the anger at the way that they had left her behind? The reasons that he must have done it for? That she was so weak that not even her own teammates had trusted her to be able to do a mission. That she would have been a liability when he'd taken Chouji with him. Anger choked her throat just thinking about it and now she had to tell him all of it…

"Ino," she looked up and found Asuma-sensei watching her with sympathetic eyes. He patted the seat next to him, "Come talk to me – none of this will go any further than this room. I swear it. Stuff like this is one of the reasons they give Genin sensei for the first few years."

Rubbing furiously at her eyes Ino stumbled over to him. The arm he put around her shoulders was the last straw and she burst into tears, the words tumbling over themselves until she was sure that her sensei wasn't picking up more than half of them.

He stayed though, one hand rubbing in soothing circles at the small of her back and his low voice murmuring comforting nonsense as she explained what it had felt like to be left behind like that and how she didn't want that to happen again. How much Shikamaru's comments about her inability to do her job – the fact that Suzume-sensei had recommended her hadn't seemed to make a difference to him.

His lack of trust in her hurt the most.

When she had cried herself out Asuma-sensei got her a cup of tea and a cold cloth to wipe her eyes with. He knelt down in front of her so that they were on the same eye level. "You're doing great, Ino. It's common knowledge that you're one of the most outstanding up-and-coming kunoichi among the Genin."

She flushed. Asuma-sensei wasn't one to give compliments easily – you had to earn them. Ino had only one question though, "Then why doesn't he see it?"

To her surprise her sensei laughed, "Because he's a Nara through and through. Every Nara I've ever met has a streak of sexism a mile wide – girls are weaker than boys and so on. In his mind you've got to be protected. You're his responsibility."

"I'm able to take care of myself!" Ino burst out, anger raising its head again, "I'm not going to let him just push me to the side because I'm a girl!"

"I never said you were – I was talking about it from his point of view." Asuma-sensei said in a soothing voice, "But that's were I think he was coming from. Did you want me to talk to him?"

Ino stared at her hands clasped around the cup of tea, "Won't that just make it worse?"

"It could," He allowed, "But if might make it better too."

When she didn't respond Asuma-sensei sighed, "I'll see if I can track him down before I have to leave," Ino didn't blame him for not sounding enthusiastic about his chances of managing that, "For now I'll not tell them what you're studying."

"You won't?" She looked up at him in surprise, "But after what you said…"

He frowned, "I said for now – and you're to keep me fully updated on your progress. If Team 10 winds up in trouble I want to know what you can do. I'll reconsider that decision after talking to Shikamaru."

"Thank you, Asuma-sensei." Ino said, finishing the last of her tea. Dabbing at her face with the cold cloth and determinedly not thinking about what she must look like after a fit like that Ino stared at him for a moment before asking, "Did you want to hear what I've already covered?"

They had just finished going over her training schedule – 'be careful that you don't take on too much' – and her lessons so far with Shizune-sensei – 'she's got you reading _that _much theory?' – when Ino glanced over at the clock and saw that it was half past eight.

Her blood went cold. She was an hour and a half late for her lesson! Making her excuses hurriedly, Ino was almost out the door when she paused and looked back at her teacher who was still sitting on the couch looking faintly surprised.

"Um," She blushed, and dug out a slightly crumpled invitation, "I was wondering if you'd want to come to my, well mine and Shikamaru's, birthday party on the 24th?" At his look she hurried on, "I know that it's really late – over a month - but Chouji's supposed to be out on the 20th and we didn't want to have a party without him."

Ino put the invitation on the counter nearest to the door and began her retreat, "Of course you don't have to if you don't want but I thought that you might want to come – "

"Ino?" She could tell that he was trying not to laugh at her.

"What?"

"You really want your sensei at your party?"

Ino hugged herself and looked away, "I just thought you might want to come, that's all." She knew that her face was no doubt brilliantly red with embarrassment.

"I'll see if I'm in town."

She beamed at him, "You're the greatest, Asuma-sensei!"

Then with another pained look at the clock she bolted for the hospital. Shizune-sensei was going to _kill_ her.

* * *

"Right," her father said as he turned the lights on in the Balance Room, "I trust you've read the scrolls?" 

Of course she had - Ino was hardly going to just let that slide no matter how busy she was. Her Clan came first and so there had been a few days where she'd gone to see Shizune-sensei with her reading not quite as far along as it could have been. Luckily for her though she had an understanding sensei who'd merely pursed her lips and said slowly that they would have to take the studies just a bit slower then.

Ino took a seat, her usual one, and waited impatiently for her father to do the same. "Three times over." She assured him, "Most of it while hanging on the ceiling."

That way he'd know that she'd done both of the things that he'd ordered her to do. The ceiling had been an interesting challenge - Ino didn't know what he'd done to make it so slippery but she'd fallen more than once and it had taken more chakra out of her than she was used to expending for the exercise. The plus side was that she was now fairly confident that in a pinch she'd be able to stick herself on just about anything.

"How many times did you fall?" There was a gleam of amusement in his eyes.

She glowered, "Like I'd admit to that!"

To her surprise he let that pass, "I'll want to see how you do later though."

That wasn't a problem. After nearly three weeks of work at hanging herself from the ceiling from various body parts she wasn't worried about failing in front of him. Her father would be more likely to give her tips that she sorely needed on conserving her chakra - or maybe tips on building her chakra.

Now though, she knew that they'd work on the first steps of the jutsu her father had given her: Hypnosis no Jutsu.

It was a combat jutsu designed by Yamanaka Shiori during the founding of Konohagakure and the reign of the Shodaime. To offset the fact that the Yamanaka Clan, while one of the premier Clans in espionage and assassination was sorely lacking in full out war techniques, her ancestor had created it to give them a small edge in one on one combat.

Hypnosis no Jutsu was, in essence, a split second moment of utter disorientation. Down became up, front to back, even sight and sound were switched - for a second or two. It was a rare shinobi, she understood from her reading, that could recover instantaneously from that. And that was what her ancestor had wanted to cause. The few seconds that even the best shinobi would take to reorient themselves were seconds that they could take advantage of to win the fight.

As Ino understood it, if you had the chakra, the jutsu could be worn for hours at a time – making it an effective all out war technique if you were careful enough about conserving the rest of your chakra. But the scroll had mentioned that Yamanaka Shiori hadn't been able to iron all of the kinks out of it before she'd been taken down by an enemy nin.

When she mentioned the kinks her father smiled thinly, "No Yamanaka has been able to work out all of the downsides – and there are many – after all, during that war it was tradition to pass down knowledge through word of mouth and Shiori-sama didn't have a chance to write down more than half of what she had figured. Its greatest flaw is that it'll effect anyone who you come into eye contact with."

She winced. Ino could see times when that would be a definite disadvantage in combat. If she were to use the jutsu then she'd have to be reasonably certain that she wasn't going to accidentally come across her teammates. Which meant that she could use it reliably only when she was alone, especially as she wasn't planning on telling either of her teammates about it for the next while. Not with Shikamaru being such a _boy_ about protecting her. Ino did make a mental note to tell Asuma-sensei though the next time that she saw him. He was out on another mission not twenty four hours after she'd left his apartment in such a rush, though so she wasn't sure when she would have a chance. Ino guessed, at best, that she'd see him at the party.

It wasn't much of a party really, just Shikamaru and her families getting together with the Akimichi. Really, it was more of a party for Chouji because he was the one that was getting out of the hospital. Ino considered that more important than celebrating a day that was over a month past.

Shizune-sensei hadn't been happy with her at all. The only thing that had staved off complete wrath was that she'd been talking to her primary sensei. While she couldn't technically be punished for that - no matter that she'd missed nearly two hours of her training - Shizune-sensei had assigned her a massive pile of scrolls to read since then.

"However," Her father was saying and she snapped her attention back to him, "We have come up with a better way to hide the use of it until the user gains refines their control. But first I'll have you try it so that you better understand what I'm talking about. The first seal is tiger..."

As he showed her the sequence of seals and explained the way that the jutsu required her to form her chakra in conjunction. As with many of her family's techniques Hypnosis no Jutsu merely used the hand seals as a way to focus and release the jutsu. The rest of it was mental.

By the time that she had managed to make the jutsu work properly she was panting and damp

with sweat. "What's it look like?" She asked as very carefully she separated her hands, being careful not to let go of the jutsu. Ino could feel the drain of it on her chakra, it was steady enough that in a prolonged fight she'd be next to useless in fifteen minutes even if this was all that she used.

"Keep your head down." Her father told her sharply when she turned to look at him, "I don't feel like having all of my perceptions shifted. Stay there and I'll get you a mirror."

She flushed with embarrassment at having forgotten that it affected everyone while it was active. "Sorry," Ino muttered as her father maneuvered behind her.

"It's alright, sweetie. You're just going to have to make sure that you keep it in mind." There was a crash as several scrolls went flying past her head and Ino had to resist the urge to turn around and see what her father was doing. Surely it couldn't be that hard to get a mirror out? Where had he put it?

"Turn around. Slowly." He ordered her and she could hear him moving out of the way.

Ino turned and looked. There had been a mirror at the back of one of the shelves - on closer inspection it proved that the mirror _was_ the back of the shelf and her father had been clearing the space so that she could see.

Around her eyes was a violently pink glow. Squinting at her reflection she guessed that the glow extended a good two inches around her eyes. "_That's_ what it looks like?" Ino said with horror - it didn't look like something that she'd be able to hide. How was that supposed to help her out? No shinobi would be stupid enough to over look something like that.

"That's what it looks like at your stage of control." Her father said in his teaching voice, "As you gain greater understanding and practice the area will shrink. You may release the jutsu."

Ino did so with a grateful sigh. Slumping a bit against the back of the chair and trying not to breath too deeply from her exhaustion she looked over at her father. He was picking up the scrolls and she asked nonchalantly, "Do you want me to help?"

He gave her a long look, "Don't think I can't tell you're exhausted Ino. Sit down for a bit."

Just moving around the chair took more out of her than she would have wanted to admit. Sitting down was a welcome relief and she leaned back in the chair and closed her eyes. "You mentioned control affects the size of the circles?" She asked after a few minutes of just lying back and breathing. "How much of a circle do you get?"

Her father rested one hand on the top of her head and she rolled her eyes up to look at him the best that she could. "Small enough that it's hardly noticeable in daylight." He admitted, his blue eyes bright with amusement as she groaned, "Full dark is a different matter altogether - it's hard to hide the glow no matter how good your control is."

"So don't use it in the dark then?"

"I wouldn't say _never_ use it - but only do it as a last resort. Otherwise it makes you a pretty target and ruins your night vision all at once." Taking the seat across from her father gave a smile, "I'm impressed that you managed it at all frankly, and so quickly - though your control is dismal - practice it down here once every morning and once more before you go to bed."

Ino nodded, trying to ignore the sting of her wounded pride and making a note of the conditions she shouldn't use it under, "No rainy days then? Or underground areas?"

"That's right." Her father made a face at that, "It works the best under sunny skies - that much light around helps make it less obvious that you're using a jutsu."

"Nothing will hide two inch circles around my eyes." Ino said flatly.

"Working on your control will only serve to shrink them - and I never said that there wasn't a way that we could help conceal them."

She straightened and leaned forward, ignoring the brief dizziness from the motion. "What do I have to do?"

"First, you have to go shopping."

* * *

A few days later she was seated on one of the wooden chairs in Shizune-sensei's preferred practice room. The floor was tiled white and it was chilly despite the warmth of the afternoon. Shizune-sensei had told her to go and wait for her while she finished up a bit of paperwork. Ino's hands itched to look at some of the scrolls that were carefully locked in cases along the walls – she didn't bother to see if she could get into them though. Shizune-sensei had told her the first day that the only scrolls she'd get to read were the ones that Shizune-sensei deemed necessary. 

Ino made note to bring a scroll with her the next time she had a lesson. Just in case she had to wait again. She didn't want to waste any time.

Her classes at the Academy had gone well today. She'd been covering the basics of sewing in her first class with the six year olds and more advanced stitches for the seven year olds to practice with. Then in the afternoon she had discussed with the older girls where to hide weapons when you were undercover as a common woman.

She hummed under her breath as shifted to get more comfortable on the hard wooden chair. The older girls would be dismayed to find that they had a test tomorrow - one that she'd conveniently neglected to tell them about beforehand.

The door in front of her opened and Ino tensed standing up to be better able to move, before relaxing when she realized that it was just her sensei. Shizune-sensei was looking harried, and she shut the door firmly enough that Ino knew that someone had been making her angry. "Sorry to make you wait, Ino-kun."

Sitting back down Ino waved off the apology, "It's not a problem - after all, you're doing this as a favor to me."

That got her a smile. Shizune-sensei clapped her hands together briskly, "Today I'm going to show you a chakra transfer technique. This one is useful during long term surgery - it allows a medic nin to go on without having to stop midway to recharge."

Ino nodded her head. Many jutsu surgeries could be fatal if they weren't completed in one go. The chakra, left unfocused and lacking the direction provided by the medic nin, would turn on the body it was trying to heal. Though there were a few cases of having to leave the surgery half done for a couple of hours... her reading had hinted at as much but she didn't think that Shizune-sensei would be covering that with her. Ino would ask Sakura about it some time. Sakura was currently up to her eyebrows in common coughs and colds.

"How can it help me out in the field?" She asked, knowing that chances were slim that she'd be called to assist on a operation like that in the middle of a mission. Not when, with her team, she was the only one with medical skills. Asuma-sensei had admitted to knowing a little bit, on account of his being Jounin he'd claimed, but that he was fairly pathetic at it.

"There will be times when you won't have access to medical supplies - and while I'm going to be teaching you quite a few jutsu, you don't know them yet - this one," here she paused and with a faint frown of concentration caused a green glow to appear around her hands, "will give you a chance to get your wounded comrade to someplace where you'll be able to use other things."

Ino frowned thoughtfully, "It's a practical application of Watanabe's Overlap, right?"

Watanabe's Overlap theorized that chakra resonated on a different level for everyone. Rather like a fingerprint really, which was why it was easy to know who was coming once you knew how to differentiate between chakra signals. Suzume-sensei had shown her how but it had been Shizune-sensei who'd given her the name to what she was doing.

It was said that if you had enough control you could change your 'frequency' to something that would be _almost_ palatable to someone else's body. It had been mentioned though, in the scrolls, that there were several side effects. "Isn't that dangerous though?"

After all, her reading had been very firm about that – people weren't meant to contain more chakra than their own. In a situation where it happened the chakras would turn against each other. No matter what the intent of the invading chakra was.

With a wave of her hands the green glow vanished and Shizune-sensei took a seat, leaning forward in what Ino knew was her serious mode, "That's right - this technique can kill if used long enough on a healthy person. Their body goes into Chakra Shock and then very quickly death follows. If I ever catch you using it on a Konoha nin..."

Ino gulped and shook her head, "I wouldn't! I promise."

"I know you wouldn't." Shizune-sensei assured her, "But we have to make sure - medical techniques are regulated for a reason, you know, and thirteen is young enough to be learning them that some people are nervous about it."

She had heard rumors to that effect. Sakura had reported a few of them, and Ino wasn't blind to the way that a few of the older medic-nins frowned at her when she showed up to her lessons.

"People are going to be watching me," Ino figured it would be mostly her that the scrutiny fell upon because Sakura was the Hokage's apprentice and that was a different kettle of fish altogether, "to see if I mess up, right?"

"I'm afraid so, Ino-kun." Shizune-sensei sighed and shook her head, "If you were two years older... well, no use complaining about that. The chakra transfer is to be used only when the person you're directing your chakra towards is either nearly drained and close to hitting Chakra Exhaustion, or when they're wounded badly enough that your chakra acts as a crutch rather than a hindrance. The theory for that is covered in..." Shizune-sensei asked leadingly.

Happily Ino had managed to do her reading the night before, and so she could answer this without any problems, "Hiroku's Theorem."

"You've got it." Shizune-sensei said with a pleased look, "Hiroku's Theorem states that the human body requires chakra to live and when somebody is that close to death it doesn't matter where that chakra comes from. Thus, you can use that in conjunction with Watanabe's Overlap to keep them alive until further help can arrive."

"You'd have to be careful though..." Ino said thoughtfully, "It would be easy to drain yourself down to nothing if you didn't watch it."

"That's true. This technique is mostly mental control as well as knowledge of how to channel chakra into your hands. You noticed that I didn't use any seals right?" When Ino nodded Shizune-sensei continued on, "It'll take you a while to get this one down, which is why we're starting with it first - by the time you have the chakra transfer down pat the other jutsu's should be easier for you. It'll also increase your reserves the more you use it. So I want you to use it as often as you can, your reserves aren't bad for a regular kunoichi considering how little time you've been active, but medical jutsu require more than you've got to give at the moment."

Ino made a note to practise it as often as she could. If she couldn't find the time then she'd make it. Her morning taijutsu practice could stand to be cut a bit – at least until she could talk her father or Asuma-sensei into training her one on one. Even if the technique was as exhausting as Shizune-sensei, Ino thought that the rest of the day would give her enough time to recharge. That way she wouldn't be completely useless when her father taught her in the evening.

"Now come stand by me," Shizune beckoned with one hand, "and we'll have you give it a go."

* * *

"No, Chiharu-chan you can't just eat the batter." Ino was saying patiently to the eight year old girl, "It's got to be cooked first." 

She got a wrinkled up nose for her troubles. "It tastes better before we stick it in the oven though, Ino-sensei." This was said in an almost accusatory voice.

Ino sighed inwardly while pasting a smile on her face, "Let's go look at your batter, shall we?"

She'd barely managed to contain that crisis, and convince Chiharu and Mui that she really did mean it when she said that it would come out tasting better cooked when there was a cry of outrage from the other side of the room.

"Momoko-chan! Renge-chan!" Ino came swooping swiftly over to them, spotting the source of trouble immediately.

"Momoko's stealing our batter!" Renge said furiously, in one hand a spatula and a smear of flour on her cheek, "Just because hers is all lumpy doesn't mean she can help herself!"

"You've got enough! It's not fair that you've got Shizuka-kun to work with when Shizuka-kun already knows all of this." Momoko retorted, blue eyes blazing, as her partner, Ami, busied herself with stirring their newest acquisition into their bowl of batter, "Ami and I need it more than you do!"

Shizuka merely buried her head in her hands. Ino sympathized. "What have I told you two about fighting?" Ino asked seriously, "I don't care which of you started it - don't look at me like that Momoko-chan - but this class is a test to see how well you can follow instructions."

She took a deep breath and let it out - all four of the girls watched her apprehensively. After nearly a month under her care they knew of her temper. "Momoko-chan, Ami-chan, you'll be staying tomorrow after class to redo the entire recipe. Clean this mess up and review the proper methods for addressing nobility."

Ami's shoulders slumped and whispered, "Yes, Ino-sensei." Well, Ino felt bad for Ami, but the girl had to learn to stand up for herself. She had stressed at the beginning of the lesson what anyone caught cheating would have to do.

Momoko wasn't so cowed, "It was my idea, Ino-sensei! Don't take it out on Ami-chan. I'll do the stupid recipe all by myself."

"That's not good enough, and it was a stupid idea - what if you were posing as a servant and had no idea how to cook? There would be no Shizuka-chan and Renge-chan to cheat off of then. That kind of lazy thinking could get you killed one day. I won't have it." Ino said firmly, "Both of you knew that what you were doing was wrong. Ami-chan could have told you to stop it - even if it was your idea."

With a glower at her, Momoko turned away. Ino stood over the two girls until she was satisfied that they really were doing as she said. Then, once they'd gone with the dirty dishes to the sinks she turned to Renge and Shizuka. "Next time," she said firmly, "You two keep a better eye on what's going around you. Situational awareness is something that every kunoichi must strive to have."

They nodded and Ino was just starting to relax when, "Ino-sensei! Yoshino spit in our batter!"

She sighed and headed over to sort out another problem.

Two hours later, she slumped on one of the stools and surveyed the kitchen. The girls had done a good enough job cleaning the _dishes_ but they had left the rest of the room in disarray. She would have to talk to them about that. Ino pursed her lips, maybe she'd make the next practical a cleaning one. The importance of hiding your evidence or something.

"My, my," said a familiar voice, "Would you like some help cleaning up, Ino-kun?"

Ino turned so quickly that she nearly fell off of the stool, "Suzume-sensei! You're back!"

"Alive and well." Her sensei agreed, standing in the doorway looking just a bit thinner than she had before leaving, "I trust my girls have made you welcome?"

"Depends on how you mean it." Ino stretched and picked up one of the cloths. Wetting it with warm soapy water Ino started scrubbing at the counter tops as Suzume-sensei did the same.

"Most of them, did anyway. Momoko-chan probably wishes that I'd go away." Unlike Risa, who was only five, who'd probably cry when she realized that Ino wasn't teaching anymore.

"I shall resume teaching tomorrow." Suzume-sensei said, echoing her thoughts, "Though I would like you to bring me up to speed with how far they've come. It would make them think that their sensei was silly if I had them repeat a lesson."

Ino laughed and as they cleaned she talked about what the students had accomplished. Once they had finished the room, leaving it as clean as it had been when they had started, and Ino had shown Suzume where she'd put the marked tests. Those would have to be gone over before they could be made a permanent part of each girl's school record.

At one point, as they discussed the marking on one of the culture tests, Suzume-sensei looked up at her with a crooked little grin and declared, "I made the right decision."

"Pardon?" Ino blinked up at her sensei.

"You would have had to work at it to be awful - instead you worked at being great and the results show." She held the papers out in example. "I am glad that my choice was a good one."

Ino flushed with pride. "I couldn't shirk on a mission - but I don't think I was all that good."

"Nevertheless," Suzume-sensei admonished, wagging one finger at her, "I am pleased. Hokage-sama will need your report within three days, I will review it before you hand it in. A written commendation is in order if everything is as well as this."

Ino knew when she was beaten, "As you wish, Suzume-sensei."

"Naturally, Ino-kun." Suzume-sensei looked over her glasses, "It is a talent."

* * *

"So why are we doing this again?" Sakura asked wearily as she followed Ino into another shop. "I've still got studying to do – Tsunade-sama's not going to accept 'my friend wanted to go shopping' as an excuse." 

"I told you," Ino said with exaggerated patience, as she scoped out another rack of sunglasses and by this time was getting just as tired of the whole mission, "My father told me – ordered really - that I buy a pair of gaudy glasses."

And it was turning out to be a total pain, they must have been in four or five different shops already and yet they hadn't found anything that she thought would fit what he had told her to get. Styles this year headed toward slim and elegant.

"Were those his actual words?" Her friend asked dubiously, "He really wants you to find and buy the ugliest pair of glasses in the village."

Ino glowered as they left the shop and headed in search of another. "Well," she temporized, "Not the ugliest but certainly nothing that I'd be caught dead in of my own free will. I mean, I don't even wear glasses at the beach. Why would I want to buy a pair of them otherwise?"

That wasn't exactly the truth, but then, Ino wasn't allowed to tell the full truth because Sakura wasn't related to her. It was a Clan secret and thus covered under the Clan Confidential so she had resorted to making up her father's request. Which, Ino told herself virtuously, wasn't a lie. Her father had told her to go and buy the glasses. He just hadn't mentioned whether or not she had to go and do it alone.

Sakura sighed and stifled a yawn, "Did he have any other requirements?"

With a sigh Ino gave her the other part of what he'd told her, "He recommended pink."

"You, in pink glasses?"

"I know, I'm totally not a pink – blue or purple would look better." Ino said dismally, "But he insisted."

They searched a few more shops and Ino was just beginning to lose all small remaining hope when they were walking in the general direction of home. That was when she found the perfect pair.

They were pink. Bright screaming pink with glitter on them – and to top it off on either side of them were large stars. She cringed to think of wearing them but Ino had to admit that even her father would be pleased with her selection. Frankly though, even if they hadn't been quite so perfect, Ino might have given up on finding the perfect pair and settled for the best that she'd seen. Besides, she still had to go home and get ready for the party. Sakura had already given her a gift (three scrolls on identifying poisons and their antidotes).

Ino had been delighted with the gift. Most of the books that she was reading right now weren't hers and furthermore she didn't have both the funds and the clearance to buy them. Medical jutsu scrolls were kept under lock and key. She knew that they were certainly one of the most coveted types of intelligence that could be obtained.

After all, if you knew how your enemy was likely to be healed then you could prevent it from happening. If you were clever enough to craft jutsu like that. Shizune-sensei had talked about it briefly and that how even among medical nin's that it was rare to have a talent like that.

"Hey, isn't that Hinata-chan?" Sakura asked her suddenly, "Across the street - look!"

Ino looked, then she grinned, "It is, did you want to go and say hello?" She swung the bag that held her glasses, "So long as it doesn't take that long then I'm good for it."

"Who is that with her?" Sakura asked, "Is that um, I can't remember her name, from the year ahead of us? The one on the same team as Lee-san?"

Ino frowned as they slipped through the throngs of people to get to the other side of the street. This was made far easier by the fact that the both of them were mostly unburdened and had been in training as kunoichi. Then she smiled as she caught sight of a familiar set of buns, "That's Tenten-san. She's Neji-san's teammate."

When they were within hailing distance Ino gave a call, "Tenten-san! Hinata-chan!"

The two girls spun around to look at them and Ino wondered what could be bothering Hinata so badly. She looked like she hadn't been sleeping at all lately and the way that Tenten had stepped in front of her defensively before they had recognized her voice made Ino wonder if this was such a good idea.

"Oh, it's just you." Tenten said relaxing a bit and moving her hands away from where Ino knew, from working with her for several weeks, that she kept kunai.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Ino asked good naturedly, she was determined to keep this conversation on an easy keel until she had a better idea of what was going on with the two girls. There was enough unhappiness going around that she wasn't going to go looking for it if it didn't come first for her.

"Ano, Ino-san I'm sure that Tenten-san didn't mean it that way." Hinata intervened quickly before Tenten could open her mouth to respond, "We're very happy to see the both of you. Ino-san, Sakura-san. Would you like to join us for a drink?"

With a sidelong look at Sakura who nodded her head carefully – she hadn't been the only one that had noticed that there was something going on that didn't feel right. There was no reason for Hinata to be so upset about something, not when things were finally calming down.

Then she smiled at Hinata, "We'd be delighted to. Have you been shopping today?"

With that she and Sakura were careful to keep the conversation to neutral topics like what was currently on sale, what was in fashion (which was hardly the same thing at all) and what was going on among the rest of the rookies.

Ino was pleased to tell them that Chouji had gotten out of the hospital earlier that morning, and the news got the first unfettered smile from the shyer girl that she had seen. "That's great news Ino-san!"

"I know," Ino said as they ducked into a small tea shop and took seats near the door, "I was so happy that he's finally better - though he's lost a lot of ground in training due to the prolonged recovery."

"I'm sure he'll work hard to catch up." Sakura said calmly as they ordered drinks, "He told me he was planning to."

Ino gave her friend a long look, "Been to visit him again then?"

"Tsunade-sama wanted to do a check up, she let me come along."

"Were you shopping for anything specific, Ino-san?" Hinata asked her suddenly, "Tenten-san has told me of your current mission."

"Yeah," Ino paused as their orders were brought out, "But it doesn't have anything to do with the mission. Just training supplies."

That gave the four of them something to talk about for the next half an hour – all of the kunoichi had very different fighting skills and the equipment that went with them varied as much as they did. Tenten was in the process of explaining the exact difference between Kumo and Konoha shuriken when Hinata paled.

Following her gaze, Ino frowned when she saw that Hinata's cousin, Neji, had entered the shop. Beside Hinata, Tenten had tensed and was whispering furiously to the smaller girl. Ino traded a look with Sakura.

What was this all about? She could understand Hinata being reluctant to be around him, he had almost killed her after all, but Tenten was his teammate and from what she had seen of the team they worked well together. Now Tenten was near glaring at Neji and Ino was surprised to realize that as he came closer that he looked acutely uncomfortable.

"Hiashi-sama requires your presence Hinata-sama."

As Hinata hurriedly made her good-byes and got out the money for her drink, Ino frowned at Tenten. The tall girl was near to trembling with anger and she noted with surprise that Neji had been careful to avoid her eyes.

Ino was starting to feel like she and Sakura had wandered into something that really wasn't their concern. To her, this was starting to look like Clan business and that meant she should keep her nose out of it.

Watching Hinata leave with her shoulders hunched, in the shadow of her older cousin, made it hard to remember that though.

"What was that all about?" Sakura asked the moment that the door had shut behind the two Hyuuga.

Tenten's lips twisted in a grimace, "That would be the process of arranging a marriage."

Ino spluttered. She was glad to see that Sakura was looking equally surprised. "Marriage?" Ino managed to squeak out, "Hinata's getting married?"

She knew that there were a few Clans that still practiced arranged marriages – the Aburame family for one – but she hadn't thought to apply that to the people that she knew. Ino bit her lip and tried to remember anything that she'd ever read on the subject. It wasn't much.

"It'll be a long engagement, right?" Sakura was asking, "I mean, we're only thirteen – legal's not even until fifteen."

"Actually," Ino said with a cough, "The moment we became Genin we're considered fully adult in the eyes of the law. Anyone of us could get married."

Tenten made a face, "They haven't even decided who it'll be yet – but Hinata's crushed, there's no way that they'll pick the person that she likes. He's not even a member of any Clan."

Ino winced. She could see how then that would be practically impossible – Hyuuga Clan was one of the most insular Clans, and Hinata was the heir. "Do you know who some of the candidates are?"

That got her a thin-lipped smile, "Hyuuga."

Then Tenten finished her drink and set her money down. "I'm going to go see if I can get in and talk to her – Hinata needs a girl to talk to."

"Hey, tell her we're willing to listen." Sakura said and Ino found herself nodding her head in agreement.

"I'll tell her." Tenten promised.

Then she was gone and Ino stared at Sakura for a long moment knowing that the surprise on the pink haired girl's face was a mirror to her own.

"I thought my problems were bad." Sakura commented after a few minutes, "Can you imagine having to get married right now? Poor Hinata."

Poor Hinata, indeed, Ino thought. She was glad her Clan didn't have arranged marriages.

* * *

When he'd knocked on the back door of the Yamanaka's place the last person he'd expected to answer the door was his sensei. Shikamaru blinked up at Asuma-sensei, "What are you doing at Ino's house?" 

His sensei laughed, and opened the door wider, "Ino invited me. Guess she didn't tell you?"

Shikamaru frowned at that as he entered the house. He and Ino hadn't talked at all lately but he would have thought that she'd have told him who was coming. Well, at least Asuma-sensei wasn't as bad as, like, Haruno. "Is anyone else coming?"

Last he heard this was a family affair - Shikamaru was heading home if Ino had turned it into one of her girly parties. He couldn't stand the frills and fuss that being in the same room as so many girls his age brought with it as a matter of course.

"Chouji's family isn't here yet," Asuma-sensei told him as they headed down the hall, "And we're missing the birthday girl."

"Ino's not here yet?" Shikamaru asked, "That's not like her."

It wasn't like her at all. Ino wasn't the type to be late to her own party. Shikamaru knew that however much they called it his and hers it was really hers. Though he'd get presents. Ino was the one that liked parties. In his opinion though this was really just an excuse for their parents get together and talk about the good old days.

Asuma-sensei shrugged, "Ino's hanging out with Sakura from what I gathered. She probably just lost track of time."

"Hm." Shikamaru suffered through being greeted by Ino's mother - who was looking harried as she watched over the cooking food - and Ino's father. Asuma-sensei lounged in one of the chairs around the dining table and talked to Ino's father in low voices. Shikamaru didn't bother to see what they were speaking about.

He doubted it had anything to do with him.

His parents showed up with the Akimichi's and he perked up a bit when Chouji came in. Shikamaru hadn't been able to be there when he'd gotten out of the hospital, thanks to the mission he'd been on, but seeing Chouji now was enough to convince him that his friend really was feeling better. Looking better too.

It wasn't until twenty minutes later, and Ino's mother was starting to look severely annoyed, when Ino showed up clutching several shopping bags. "I'm sorry!" She said quickly as she squeezed through the room, and raced up the stairs, "I lost track of time!"

When she came down a few minutes later she'd changed into a long skirt and a short sleeved shirt. Her bandages around her arms remained on, he noticed, and he wondered again if it was just some stupid fashion. He hadn't noticed that many of the girls their age picking it up though... Ino got a kiss on the head from her father and Shikamaru couldn't help scowling as she whispered something to her father that man the blond man beam.

She made the rounds of greeting everyone, apologizing for her lateness, and it wasn't until Shikamaru found himself sitting across from her at the table, and she was talking animatedly to his father, that he realized she hadn't said a word to him. He'd been so busy watching her that it hadn't even occurred to him. Irritation began smoldering in him.

What, was she _still_ mad at him? It had been nearly a month since he'd given her grief about her teaching job - one which was now over, he'd seen Suzume-sensei in the Mission Center and had no doubts that she'd be reclaiming her job. He'd been hearing through the grape-vine though that Ino had done nothing but excellent work.

Well, she was _Ino_ so she'd have hardly done anything but work at it to the best of her ability. Ino always had been competitive like that, even when there was no one to compete against but herself. The fact remained though that she hadn't been qualified, and surely they didn't think that a Genin could just up and teach seven years worth of students at the Academy - not while they were all on different levels. Unless she'd spent the entire month teaching them about flowers.

Growing up in a flower shop would have some advantages there, he figured.

Enough to teach about it anyway.

Chouji's elbow prodded his side and he looked over to find his friend frowning at him, "Stop staring at her." Chouji said in a near whisper.

Shikamaru stabbed at his vegetables and whispered back, "She didn't even bother to say hello to me."

"Well," Chouji said logically, "she's still mad at you. Every time I mention you she snaps that she doesn't want to talk about it - what did you say to her?"

Scowling, Shikamaru looked away. He didn't feel like explaining it, not even to Chouji, when it was really just a stupid fight over nothing - and not after the reports he'd been hearing and the looming possibility that he might be the one in the wrong.

"See?" This was said heatedly and Shikamaru looked over to find that Chouji was frowning at him, "You're doing the same thing as she is - how am I supposed to help if nobody is going to talk to me?"

"It's just a stupid fight." Shikamaru dismissed the whole thing, "It'll blow over."

"It has been a _month_. Neither you or Ino stay that mad for so long ordinarily. Whatever it was, it wasn't just a spat - tell me, Shikamaru."

"Just drop it, alright? I don't want to talk about it."

Chouji sighed and went back to his food. Shikamaru found himself glowering across the table at Ino, who'd given no notice that she'd even realized that they were talking about her. Busy as she was with her conversation.

... why was she asking his father about their _deer_?

Deer were smelly, messy creatures (that looked nice from a distance) and he couldn't see fastidious Ino wanting to go near them. Unless it was under duress. He studied her face, Shikamaru didn't think that her enjoyment of the conversation was unfeigned as his father went on in detail about the medicinal properties of their antlers.

In this matter, dinner passed. He managed to behave fairly normally for a while once Akimichi Misaki, Chouji's mother, dragged him into a conversation about the reconstruction of Konoha. But he noticed, and he knew from the way that Chouji was frowning slightly by the end of it, that his friend had noticed too. Ino hadn't once looked his way.

Once the adults had dispersed for the clean up, and Ino's offer to help had been turned down, it was only the three of them left in the dining room. The silence was suddenly awkward.

"Well, I'm just going to get a scroll to read," Ino started to leave her seat, chattering all the while, "no time to waste, you know, and it will be awhile until dessert and presents - "

"What _is_ your problem?" Shikamaru demanded before she made it to the door, "Can't look at your teammate?"

Several emotions that he couldn't name crossed her face before she replied coolly, "I can talk to Chouji just fine."

So that was how it was going to be? Well, fine. "Just like a _girl_, to behave like this," he sneered, "you can't even make it to your own party on time. Too busy shopping?"

At the way that she'd gone dead white he knew that he'd hit a mark. "Shikamaru," she said in a low, dangerous voice, "Shut up. You don't know what you're talking about."

He saw Chouji wince out of the corner of his eye. Shikamaru ignored the both of them, "Did you think I wouldn't notice you ignoring me Ino? You spent dinner talking to my _father_."

"So what if I did?" She fired back, blue eyes furious, "At least he isn't being a complete _jerk_. Unlike you."

"I meant what I said - if you messed up on their training you could get them killed in the future."

"Suzume-sensei gave me a written commendation!" Her fists were tightly clenched and the twin spots of red on her cheeks gave him pause. Shikamaru didn't think he'd seen her this truly angry before. "And what would you know about training kunoichi?"

"Enough that a kunoichi barely out of the Academy shouldn't be teaching them!"

"Oh yeah?" she asked in a voice that he'd never heard before, "Just like I suppose then that a wet behind the ears Chuunin shouldn't be heading out on A class missions. _I_, at least, didn't _fail_."

He heard Chouji's sharp intake of breath and he was so angry that he could barely see - this was what he got for trying to keep her out of danger? "Hard to say how you would have done in my place," he said furiously, "Considering only one member of Team 10 made Chuunin. You're too weak, Ino. Just a little girl playing at being ninja."

He barely had time to register her shriek of fury and then she slapped him. The crack of her hand on his skin echoed through out the room. Shikamaru reeled back, managing to keep to his feet only through a good deal of groping at the table.

"You don't know anything about me." Ino said furiously, "I'm done talking to you. I don't associate with morons."

She stormed out of the room and from the crash of another door he guessed that she had left the house. Touching his face gingerly, she hadn't been holding back, Shikamaru looked at Chouji.

Chouji's face didn't reassure him.

"Sometimes you do really stupid things." His best friend said quietly, "Let's get you some ice."

* * *

The next morning she was still furious with Shikamaru - and with herself for lacking the control to remain calm and not ruin the party. She hadn't been able to sleep well even after spending a few hours on the training grounds practicing her taijutsu. 

Ino yawned and stared at the glasses thoughtfully. She had considered not wearing them unless she was on a mission, but after what Shikamaru had said...

With a resolute air she picked them up and looked them over. They were, she had to admit, ugly.

They were also perfect. The stars even helped to hide the chakra overflow that she couldn't quite keep within the regular lenses yet. Ino had attempted the night before, after obtaining permission from her father (and apologizing for storming out of her own party), to try the jutsu out with the glasses on. She had immediately seen what a difference they made to her looks. She couldn't yet keep the light from expanding beyond her eyes, but the glasses hid most of the leakage. It was a simple solution. No matter that Shikamaru thought she was being rather unbearably impractical – this was one of the most useful things that she could think of wearing on a mission. _Everyone_ would underestimate her with these on.

After all, no half decent kunoichi would be caught dead wearing them in the field.

Making sure her hair was pinned properly, Ino put the glasses on. They were too dark for her to wear unless she was outside so with a sigh she pushed them up on her forehead.

Looking in the mirror Ino couldn't help but grin. She looked like she should be going to the beach. (So long as you ignored the rest of her outfit.) They weren't as bad as she was making them out to be, Ino consoled herself. At least they weren't yellow. Finishing her morning preparations in record time she headed downstairs. Ino frowned as she reached one hand up to steady the glasses. She would have to find a way to keep them immobile while she didn't need them. Maybe her father would have an idea?

She found him in the kitchen scrambling eggs and reading the newspaper at the same time. The radio was on in one corner playing quietly and she was amused to find that he moved very slightly with the music, "Mother will kill you if she finds you doing that." Ino observed as she helped herself to an orange from the fruit basket and set about making toast.

Her father looked at her from over his shoulder, a grin on his face, "She's still sleeping - what she doesn't know won't hurt her."

Ino snickered and buttered her toast, "You know that she'll catch you, she always does."

With a sigh her father shut the paper and tossed it on the table, "Fine, fine. No reading while cooking. I haven't burnt the house down in all the years I've been doing it though."

He deftly finished the eggs and with some toast of his own they settled into breakfast. "I like the glasses." Her father said absently. "Make you look cheerful."

She gave him a withering look, "They work for the jutsu, that's the only reason that I bought them." Ino paused then asked, "Do you know how to keep them in your hair?"

"Do I look like I ever wore my glasses like that?" He asked sounding mock offended, "I attached mine to string and hung them around my neck."

"You don't look like you ever had to wear glasses at all!" Ino retorted, "I was just wondering." And there was no way that she was even going to consider what he'd suggested. There was ridiculous and then there was _ridiculous._

Her father chewed thoughtfully, "I'd ask Shizune-san if she's got a good idea. None of your clips would work, huh?"

"The glasses are too thick." Ino said with a shake of her head.

Clearing away his dishes her father kissed the top of her head as he headed out the door.

Ino slumped in her chair, having a bit of time to waste since she didn't have to worry about making it to the Academy after her morning routine. She had the day off and while determined to do a fair bit of training Ino wasn't ready to go quite yet.

Draining her juice, Ino was debating if she was hungry enough for another piece of fruit when her father enter the room again with a letter in his hands, "There's a letter for you, sweetie." With a causal toss of his hand he sent it flying at her.

She caught it deftly and he winked at her. Ino rolled her eyes at him. "Shouldn't you be heading out?"

"I'm gone!" Then she heard the back door closing with a thump that was more than enough to wake her mother up. Sure enough, a few seconds later, she heard the sounds of her mother moving around upstairs.

Ino turned the letter over in her fingers and that telling her nothing - it didn't even have her name on it, how had her father known that it was for her? - she opened it cautiously.

_Yamanaka Ino_

_Ninja Registration No: 012604_

_Notification of Reformation:_

_As of October 26th, Team 10 under Sarutobi Asuma (Ninja Registration No: 010829 ) is called back to regular duty. Akimichi Chouji (Ninja Registration No:_ _012625 ) and Nara Shikamaru (Ninja Registration No: 012611 ) have received notice as well._

_Shinobi Administration Bureau_

Underneath this was written in Asuma-sensei's familiar scrawl:

_We're back in action, kids (and about time!) – meet me at the training ground at 0700. _

He hadn't bothered to sign his name.

She stared at the letter for a few minutes. Then, her hands shaking, she left the house. Deciding that she would rather train than spend time thinking about what would happen tomorrow. Ino didn't bother to put her dishes in the sink - something that her mother would no doubt mention later, but right now she had to get out of the house.

How was she going to work with _him_? After she'd slapped him at the party, Ino had no doubt that they would find getting along a difficult proposition.

Ino had never thought that learning her team was reforming would fill her with such dread.

* * *

C&C, please! 


	4. Chapter 4: Reformation I

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 04 Reformation (Part I)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 4 of ? Unbeta'd. Also, this is about as short as the chapters will ever be - I'm sorry if you don't like it, but that's the way I write. This is a _long_ story (my outline/summary is 130K for the series) and is likely to get longer. That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

In the end, she sought out Tenten. Having worked with the older kunoichi for a few weeks had given the both of them more than enough time to get to know each other. With this knowledge Ino wasn't surprised to find Tenten out training so early in the morning. She had considered going and seeing if Sakura would be up and willing to train before remembering that her friend had mentioned having to be at the hospital by four during the next few weeks because Hokage-sama had upped her training. Ino had attempted to work on her taijutsu, but her concentration had been so scattered that she'd quickly given it up as a lost cause. 

Her mind kept straying back to the fact that Team 10 was reforming tomorrow and that her primary emotion was dread.

"Hey," Ino called to Tenten after a few moments of watching the other girl fling kunai with frightening precision at targets on the other end of the field. It was a larger training area than the one that Team 10 used – but that made sense considering Maito-san's specialty, and the fact that all three of his Genin were better suited to all out warfare. Tenten with her weapons, Neji with his Kaiten, and Lee's advanced taijutsu. "Almost finished warming up?"

"Give me a few minutes!" Tenten called back as the older girl flipped into the air and let loose with a barrage of kunai.

Ino was more than happy to let her friend finish up. It gave her time to go through a few more stretches, knowing that if she didn't then she'd be in a great deal of pain. Tenten was capable of far more than she was doing right then and there.

"What's up?" Tenten asked once she was done. Ino helped her pick up the scattered weapons, wondering all the while how the older girl managed to fit them all in her clothes.

"You were doing pretty good." Ino drawled with a challenging glint in her eyes, as she brought an armful of kunai over to Tenten, "But it is hard to miss a stationary target, after all. Care for a more interesting one?"

Tenten looked her up and down, a speculative glint in her eyes, "You offering?"

"Surely I'm a bit more challenging than a bunch of wooden targets. I won't even use ninjutsu." Ino said with a shrug of her shoulders, "Just don't hit my face, okay?" Kunai to the face weren't Ino's idea of a good time.

Tenten laughed, "Vain to a fault, little sparrow? I'll try not to hit your precious face. How long?"

"An hour." Ino said firmly, knowing that she'd be exhausted by the end of it. Tenten's answering nod was respectful - after all, an hour was no small bit of time. The two girls leapt apart.

The first kunai came after that, quickly and without warning.

Ino flung herself to the side and found that she wasn't even given the chance to make sure her footing was secure before she had to move again. Narrowly dodging a kunai aimed at her torso, Ino went down into a roll to try and put some distance between the two of them while making herself as small a target as possible. Kawarimi no Jutsu would have been easier but she'd never get better at dodging if she didn't work on it.

Then there wasn't time to think as Tenten launched three kunai at her and Ino was forced to jump over them, only to have to twist her body to escape a second volley. She landed badly and scrambling to regain her balance flung herself backwards, without dignity, to avoid the projectiles. One managed to cut her arm. Wincing at the sudden sting, Ino was well aware that all it would take was one miscalculation, however small, and she could wind up in the hospital.

The hour passed and by the end of it Ino was sore and bloody. Her arms and legs were streaked with blood from the numerous cuts and scratches Tenten had inflicted on her. Ino touched a particularly nasty one on her cheek – Tenten had been aiming for her neck and Ino had dodged the wrong way – and sank to her knees.

"You alright?" Tenten asked Ino as the other girl started gathering up her weapons. Tenten waved her off when Ino made a move to get up and help. "Stay there."

"I'm fine." Ino said after a brief moment of taking stock of her wounds. "The deepest one is on my cheek – though I'll need some help bandaging all of them."

None of the wounds were serious, and Ino had enough antibacterial lotion at home to kill any infection that tried to show its head, but she didn't think walking around Konoha looking like she'd just come out of a battle would do anyone good. She wouldn't be able to do anything about the blood that had stained her outfit, but at least bandaging the injuries would (hopefully) keep it from looking quite so bad. It had only been training after all, and she didn't want to alarm anyone just because she was too slow while dodging.

"You didn't do that badly," Tenten told her a while later as they sat on a fallen log and worked on cleaning the grit out of the cuts, "Not bad at all for a first try."

"I didn't even have the time to think about attacking you directly." Ino said ruefully, wincing at bit at the sting of the antiseptic, "It was all 'run, run, run'."

"Well, Neji's got an unfair advantage with his eyes – and few of us could hit Lee's speed. I wasn't going easy on you." Tenten said seriously as she wound a length of clean cloth around Ino's right leg. "By the end of it I was getting pretty tired as well – it's not that often that I get a chance to work on my endurance that way."

Ino had to admit that that made her feel better about the amount of minor injuries that she'd sustained. "Then it was good training for the both of us." Tying off a bandage on her upper arm, Ino laughed, "Though it's a bit embarrassing how bad I am at dodging."

"We can do it again," Tenten offered, working on the other leg while Ino dealt with the cut on her face. "Not right now of course – but later. So long as you don't mind the continued threat to your face."

Ino rolled her eyes, then winced as the wet cloth she was using came away scarlet. "You did great – not your fault that I dodged the way I did."

"That's good." Tenten handed her another cloth, "I wasn't looking forward to explaining to your team why I was flinging kunai at you in the first place if you'd wound up in the hospital. Sorry about your face though. I did try, little sparrow."

"It's not that bad, and it won't scar." Ino had no intentions of letting it go unhealed long enough for that to happen – she knew that Shizune-sensei would be willing to heal it for her. A kunoichi's face was a deadly weapon in the right circumstances and all that.

"Now," Tenten said as they finished the rest of the cuts, "Why on earth are you out here so I can fling kunai at you? Not your usual routine, though I don't mind the company with Lee and Gai-sensei off on a training mission to get Lee back up to speed."

Ino stared at her hands, wiping at the dried blood on them with one of the cloths, "I got my notice of Reformation." She said flatly.

To her surprise, Tenten nodded understandingly, "You've been fine on your own and now you don't want to go back to them, right?"

"It isn't that I don't want to see them – or work with them – but I've just come so far on my own and with Shikamaru on my team… " Ino didn't have to elaborate further. Tenten had gotten more than one earful of Ino's complaints about Shikamaru while they'd been together at the Academy.

"Well," the older kunoichi said with a displeased twist of her lips, "If you've gotten your notice then I assume _I'll_ be getting one soon enough. Won't that be a wonderful thing?"

Ino winced. She wasn't the only one that was going to have a few troubles getting along with her team – it was good to be reminded of that. "What's with you and Neji anyway?" She asked the question hesitantly, not sure if it was her place to ask. After all, from what she'd seen, it was primarily a Clan affair.

"He's one of the prime candidates for Hinata's marriage." Tenten kicked at a rock, sending it flying, "I know he doesn't want to marry her – but he won't _say_ anything about it because 'it for the good of the Clan' and it's driving me mad."

"I thought that their fathers were brothers though? Isn't that cutting it a bit fine?" Genetics weren't her strong point but that didn't sound like it would be healthy.

"Apparently what matters most is skill," Tenten shook her head and sighed, "I really like him, you know, but…"

"But what?" Ino asked sympathetically. Neji was easy on the eyes – it wasn't hard to see where a crush might have come from and Ino had to admit to having entertained a few thoughts of him during the Chuunin Exam, before he'd nearly killed Hinata.

"It's like he doesn't care enough to stand up and object when he doesn't want to do something. I know that he's the most likely candidate – no one else can match his talent after all – but he doesn't see that's just going to happen unless he takes a stand. And it's _killing_ Hinata, you know how she's like. She'd never stand up to her father."

There wasn't much that Ino could say to that. "Who is the boy she likes?" Ino asked suddenly, "Could he do anything about this? Get her to stand up for herself?"

Tenten laughed, "Unleashing Naruto in this mess would only make things worse."

"_Naruto?_" Ino squeaked, "That's who Hinata likes?"

"She's liked him for years." Tenten confirmed, taking a sip of a nearly empty canteen, "It took me hours to pry it out of her beyond descriptions of how he's 'strong', and 'brave' and 'kind'."

Ino had to admit that in the Academy both of them had been below her attention – Hinata had been nice enough, but was so shy and Naruto had been the class idiot and a boy to boot. Neither of them had been in Ino's social circle. Though Ino hadn't thought that Hinata would go for a boy like Naruto. She'd been thinking of someone with… well, more class. Naruto was a good guy, she was willing to admit, but he didn't have that much going for him.

"I'll give him strong." Ino conceded, "Brave too if it's the same as 'stupid' and 'reckless'. Where does she get kind from though?"

"He's always been patient with her." Tenten said softly, "It's kind of sweet to watch them try to talk to each other."

Ino considered that thoughtfully, "How long is this marriage stuff supposed to take?"

"Years." Tenten took a sip from her canteen, "They just start negotiations early in the Hyuuga Clan."

"Think Naruto would be good for Hinata?" Ino asked casually, a plan starting to form in the back of her head. She'd need to get Sakura to do most of the talking to Naruto though. Ino didn't know him well enough.

Tenten considered it, "I don't know the boy that well – but from what I've heard he's a good guy, and if Hinata likes him I'm willing to believe that. What do you have in mind?"

Ino leaned closer, her dread about her team giving way to enthusiasm as she explained her plan. "Well, first part goes to Sakura – Naruto knows her the best so he's most likely to do what she says – and then you'll be the one to talk to Hinata when… "

* * *

There were times when being the Hokage was alright. Most of the time though, Tsunade found herself longing for the day that she could turn the whole job over to Naruto and then point and laugh when he foundered under the pressure. Today was definitely one of those days. She leveled a flat look at Special Jounin Morino Ibiki and then turned to frown at his companion, Chuunin Namida Suzume. 

On her desk was the thin dossier containing the mission history of a young Genin. A pretty Genin – one whom she'd talked to personally. One that Sakura and Shizune were rather attached to. "What on earth do you want with Yamanaka Ino? She's not qualified to even _think_ about becoming ANBU."

"The Commander wants to give her a test." Ibiki said calmly, looking unruffled. "The chit's stirred his curiosity."

Hyuuga Hiromasa was the current head of ANBU, it had been something of a scandal after the Kyuubi when he'd up and left the Hyuuga Compound and entered ANBU. There were rumors that it had been over a child, but Tsunade had never bothered to find out the truth about that or not. He was a good commander from all accounts, and she had liked what she'd seen of him.

"Why isn't he here then?"

"Busy." Was the short reply, "You know how it is, Hokage-sama."

Tsunade had to admit to that. "What sort of test did he have in mind? She's hardly exceptional."

Yamanaka Ino was a girl with a great deal going for her – especially if she kept up the hard work she'd been exhibiting lately - but that didn't make her any better than many other Genin close to her age. She was no genius, no prodigy. Highest marks for kunoichi training in eleven years was a mark in her favor but every Genin had a talent.

"Yet she managed to obtain a written commendation from Suzume-san – who, I'll remind you, used to be one of ANBU's squad Captains." Ibiki said seriously.

Tsunade didn't blink – though she was startled. So long away from Konoha meant that little surprises like that kept springing up on her. She gave the woman sitting demurely next to Ibiki another long glance. Namida Suzume didn't look like she'd ever done anything like ANBU… which meant that she'd most likely been very, very good at the job.

"It's not easy to get a commendation like that, and for Yamanaka Ino to get it so young… the Commander wants to see what she can do." Ibiki continued on.

"I refuse to send her out on a mission she can't handle." Tsunade said firmly – on this she wasn't going to budge, "ANBU's missions are way out of her league."

"We aren't looking to recruit her." Tsunade heard the unspoken 'yet' on the end of that sentence. Ibiki wasn't finished though and didn't give her time to speak, "Even though it's common knowledge that ANBU is where the Yamanaka Clan makes their mark… this is just to give us an idea of what she can do."

"Her profile isn't enough?" Tsunade said dryly.

"Hokage-sama, profiles are so seldom useful when it comes to telling what a shinobi can do." The third member of their little group spoke up, "I understand that you wish to protect Ino-kun, but ANBU requires data – who are we to refuse their good request?"

"You taught her," Tsunade turned her attention on to Suzume, "do you approve of this Suzume-san?"

The meek looking kunoichi colored so masterfully that Tsunade couldn't tell if it was real or by artifice. There wasn't the small spike of chakra that was usually required to do something like that, but Suzume's body language wasn't anything but confident. When she spoke her voice was precise, "Ino-kun, while being little more than above average in many departments could take the Special Jounin exam for Kunoichi Arts right this moment – and pass it with flying colors. That is only my opinion of course, but think on this, my students are nearly two months ahead of where they should be."

"I didn't know that they were that far ahead." Tsunade said with faint surprise, "And they've learned what they need to?"

"More than that, Hokage-sama." Suzume looked over her glasses and Tsunade found herself meeting a pair of deadly serious grey eyes, "Ino-kun is not ready, I agree, for ANBU. But her skill in that one area is exceptional. We should always acknowledge that which is special."

Ibiki picked up the conversation without missing a beat, "The mission we've picked for her test relies heavily on that of course," He leaned forward and handed her a mission scroll, "If anything does go pear shaped however, there will be ANBU operatives on the scene to get her out safely."

Tsunade waved him to silence as she broke open the scroll and read the mission outline. It was an investigation into reports that one of Fire Country's daimyo was passing information over to Iwa. Tsunade's eyes hardened and when she looked up from the scroll, both of the shinobi seated in front of her desk were sitting up straighter. "You want to send a _Genin_," she empathized the word, "On this?"

"With a team of ANBU watching her every move – both for protection and to gather information," Ibiki said serenely, "It's highly unlikely that it that Yamanaka'd run into any trouble if she plays her part the way Suzume-san has assured us she can."

Tsunade flipped through Yamanaka Ino's profile again, even though she already knew what was written down. Average mission history, excellent grades… in the end it came down to the fact that Tsunade didn't know her personally. "How well do you think Ino-kun would perform on this mission?" She asked Suzume.

"So long as we have nothing but confidence in her, it should be no trouble. Ino-kun is a prideful girl – if you give her this mission she'll nearly kill herself to get it right." Suzume's mouth quirked slightly, "I would let her try it."

Tsunade nodded her head in thought. She ignored the small voice that said Shizune would be _most_ unhappy with this latest turn of events. "Team 10, Yamanaka's team, under Sarutobi Asuma are to reform tomorrow. How would you swing that?"

"Her team can come." Ibiki said with a shrug, "Have them act as additional surveillance – a different sort of mission for them. If anyone asks it's because the Nara kid's a Chuunin. Officially this mission could be ranked as a B class mission."

"And unofficially?"

"A class." Suzume said in her soft voice, "The daimyo in question has hired several Iwa Chuunin and they could cause a bit of trouble if Ino-kun is found out."

Tsunade refrained from pointing out that if a Genin were cornered by a group of Chuunin that she'd call it rather more than a 'bit of trouble'. "Time frame?" She asked while rereading the mission scroll.

"It can wait." Ibiki said, "The daimyo doesn't know enough to pose a serious threat to security and we've got ANBU watching him already."

"Wait a few weeks." Tsunade ordered, her voice brooking no disagreement, "I want to see how her team is holding together – then I'll make my decision."

"Of course, Hokage-sama." Suzume bowed her head.

"I'll inform the Commander – with your permission to leave Hokage-sama?"

"Granted."

Then she was alone in her office. Tsunade reached under her desk and pulled out a flask of sake. Taking a swig straight from the bottle and knowing that Shizune was going to kill her, Tsunade wondered if she'd ever get used to making difficult decisions. And what she'd tell Sakura if her friend got killed while on a mission that she shouldn't have been on.

* * *

Chouji chewed thoughtfully on a piece of bacon and stared down at the letter in his hands. Pushing his plate away, Chouji excused himself from the table. His parents watched him go. He could guess what the letter said well enough – after all, how many letters this official did a regular Genin get? But he wanted to read it and make sure. 

It was the matter of a few seconds for him to go down the hallway and slip into his bedroom, being careful to sneak quietly past Choumaru's room. His little brother was just five and fighting a cold - he didn't want to wake him. Chouji had awoken later than normal for him, it being just past ten in the morning, but he hadn't been able to sleep well after the night before. Sitting on the edge of his bed Chouji opened his letter.

_Akimichi Chouji_

_Ninja Registration No: 012625 _

_Notification of Reformation:_

_As of October 26th, Team 10 under Sarutobi Asuma (Ninja Registration No: 010829 ) is called back to regular duty. Nara Shikamaru (Ninja Registration No: 012611 ) and Yamanaka Ino (Ninja Registration No:_ _012604 ) have received notice as well._

_Shinobi Administration Bureau_

Asuma-sensei had added a postscript:

_We're back in action, kids (and about time!) – meet me at the training ground at 0700. _

Chouji frowned and folded the letter up, sticking it on his desk. You didn't throw out official correspondence, unless it was confidential. He couldn't help but think though that the Administration Bureau had some really sucky timing. After what both of his teammates had said to each other the night before he doubted that their team would be more than partially functional.

Chouji pushed away his anger at what had happened. It was in the past and he'd just have to work with it. What Shikamaru had said was unforgivable – Ino was well known for being skilled for her age, and it was obvious that she'd been working hard lately. But what Ino had said was even worse. He was probably the only one that knew Shikamaru had been having nightmares of that mission.

Nightmares that included Ino being along with them and not coming back.

The only reason that Shikamaru had even told _him_ was because while he'd been in the hospital Chouji had woken up one night to find his friend half asleep in the chair beside his bed. Long after visiting hours were over. Even then it had taken a good bit of careful prying to drag the truth out of Shikamaru. Ino's taunts the night before had cut a bit too close to the bone.

He knew that if he told Ino about Shikamaru's nightmares that she'd feel awful about what had happened, but Chouji wasn't going to break the confidence of his best friend just for that. He'd find a different way to get them to work together again. If he was lucky tomorrow would serve as a painful enough reminder for them to get their acts together – but Chouji didn't think that he'd be that lucky.

Shikamaru and Ino were two of the most stubborn people he'd ever met.

The letter though, and the subsequent reformation, did give him one edge though. Both of them had been putting him off for the last two months with 'it wasn't his business'. Shikamaru had grown increasingly surly when he'd attempted to get to the bottom of it, and Ino had avoided him for three days (not that it was a hard feat when he'd been stuck in the hospital) the last time he'd really pushed for information from her. It was like getting information from a brick wall.

Now though, the moment that they let the fight spill over onto their teamwork, Chouji had every right to poke his nose into it. A team had three after all. Any issue that affected two of them was going to reflect on the third as well. Chouji was sure that he'd have to remind them of that. And stand firm.

Chouji had no intentions of letting either of them brush him off.

Too often they'd been doing that lately, though Ino was more obvious about it, Shikamaru was just as bad when it came down to it. Chouji wasn't stupid. Not in the slightest, even if it did take him a bit longer than both his teammates to learn new jutsu or understand Shikamaru's latest plan. He didn't like it when his friends treated him like he was. At least in this case, Chouji knew that the both of them probably didn't even realize that they were doing it. Different than, far different than, from how he'd been treated in the Academy. But that didn't mean it didn't hurt.

He'd had plenty of practise in getting over slights though and it helped that Shikamaru's lack of sleep was easy to see and Ino was working herself to the bone. Neither of them were at their best – and in a way both of them were right in this case. Because he was out of the loop Chouji was far less use than he could be. In a sense then he _was_ stupid on this topic. Chouji grinned. He knew that both of his teammates would loudly object to that. After working together for nearly a year it was easy to predict how they'd react to some things.

That two of them weren't talking to each other was wrong. Chouji knew that it would take more than him telling them that to make Ino and Shikamaru see sense. He wondered if Shikamaru's dad would be able to tell him anything – or one of his uncles. Perhaps not being as prestigious as say, Hyuuga, or Uchiha had been, helped people forget that the Nara Clan was one of the largest Clans. That'd give him more people to ask their impressions of Shikamaru lately. Which, as far as Chouji was concerned was all for the better. Ino wouldn't be nearly as hard. He'd just have to corner her. Ino liked to talk when push came to shove.

He was going to help them fix this even if they protested every inch of the way.

Watching the sun rise for a while longer, Chouji went to get his pack to make sure he had everything that he'd need in the field.

* * *

"You're really leaving, huh?" 

Sakura had managed to track Naruto down at his apartment and found her teammate staring helplessly at his bedroom with a broom in one hand and a garbage bag in the other. Jiraiya-sama had been talking to Tsunade-sama about his plans and she'd gotten leave to go and talk to Naruto.

"After all," Tsunade-sama had said, "You won't get many chances to for the next few years."

She was glad for the chance to talk to him - both because she wanted to say good bye and because there was a piece of paper that was practically burning a hole in her pocket. Sakura didn't know what it was exactly that Hinata saw in Naruto, but she wasn't going to stand in the way of love.

"Sakura-chan!" Naruto spun and nearly tripped on a pair of pants that had been on the floor, "I didn't hear you come in!"

She fidgeted, "I let myself in - was that alright?"

True to form, Naruto beamed at her, "My house is yours Sakura-chan, come in whenever you want." He paused, scratched the back of his head and laughed, "Actually, I wanted to ask you a favor about that."

"Oh?" Sakura gingerly made her way over to him, stepping around piles of dirty laundry.

He gave her a sheepish smile, "Do you think you could water the plants while I'm gone?"

She hit him lightly in the arm, "That's hardly a problem - do you have another key or do you want me to resort to 'ninja-ing' my way in?"

Locks were mostly a formality in a Hidden Village - it would be a poor student that couldn't break in and out of most civilian places after their third year of schooling and Sakura had never been anything but an excellent student.

Her question got her a half smile that was almost shy, "You wouldn't want to do that, Sakura-chan. I've got everything pranked."

Sakura winced. Having seen on more than one occasion just what sort of pranks that Naruto was capable of was more than enough for her to think twice about breaking into his place. She had no wish to be caught up in what would no doubt be some of his nastier works of art - Sakura wasn't foolhardy enough to think that she would spot all of them. In the Academy, Naruto had, several times, pulled successful pranks on Jounin. Before she could say anything further he was digging into his pockets.

"What are you doing?" She asked Naruto as he scowled while picking through the lint and garbage he'd pulled out.

"Here." Naruto handed over a bent little key, his blue eyes wide and innocently serious, "Take it - I won't need it while I'm gone with Ero-sennin."

Sakura clasped the key to her chest like it was an important treasure. From the look on his face she guessed that it was, "N - Naruto? Is this your only key?"

He turned away from her and shrugged, "Yeah, but I won't be around to use it - so it's best that you take it." She could almost _feel_ him smile at her, "I know I can trust you, Sakura-chan."

For some reason the way that he said that, with such simple frankness, made her blush, "I'll do my best." Sakura promised him, "And it'll be here for you when you get back."

He laughed and they moved past the awkward moment.

It was surprisingly comfortable hanging around with Naruto, as she helped him clean up the mess of his kitchen - "Ero-sennin says I got to because I'm leaving for so long! Something about expiry dates..." - and made him do his laundry and dusting. They talked about everything and nothing at all.

And both of them were careful not to mention their missing member. At times Naruto would trail off in the middle of an anecdote and then abruptly switch topic. Or Sakura would talk about her dreams for the future and have to stop and blink back tears. Washing dishes that looked like they had never been cleaned before - "Tell me you don't eat off of these, Naruto." - Sakura wondered if they would always feel this way. Like there was a hole that couldn't be filled by anyone else. Sasuke wasn't their problem, Kiba had told her - and Chouji had repeated that when she'd mentioned it, but Sakura couldn't help but mourn.

She wondered, even if they got him back, if things would go back the way that they had been before. Sakura had been thinking about that a lot lately, whenever she had a quiet moment.

"Don't worry, Sakura-chan." Naruto said abruptly looking at her seriously, "We'll get him back."

No need to say who he was. Sakura tried to smile at Naruto but had a feeling that she wasn't quite able to manage it. "I know we will." She said firmly, unsure if she was trying to tell it to Naruto or herself. Perhaps both?

A while later she remembered the address that she'd gotten from Ino and sat up from where she'd been resting after they had managed to clean his walls - it was amazing how much bigger the place looked once they had done that. "Naruto," she asked not really wanting to know the answer, "when are you leaving?"

"Soon." Naruto grimaced a little, "Ero-sennin won't tell me anything more than that for 'security issues' he said."

Sakura fidgeted, then blurted out, "I promised to water your plants - will you promise to do something for me?"

He looked at her curiously for a moment, and then said slightly incredulously, "_You_ want _me_ to help you with something, Sakura-chan?"

"Well," she temporized, "it's not really for me - but I'd really like it if you would..."

Here Sakura hesitated for so long on how to say it that Naruto nudged her with his foot. "If I would, what?" There was a peculiar look on his face, "Is it that difficult to ask me for help?"

With a sigh for her dignity - but she could spare her dignity in the face of hurting Naruto's feelings - Sakura dug out the address and held it out to Naruto. "It's Hinata-chan's address," she told him as he took the paper and looked at it curiously.

"O - okay?"

"I was wondering if you'd write to her while you were away." Sakura said quickly, knowing that she wasn't the right person to be doing something like this - Ino had always had a flair for arranging things. Not her.

Naruto's face scrunched up in confusion, "Why would I do that? I mean, Hinata's nice and all but I don't really know her or anything - and I wouldn't know what to say..."

"Naruto," Sakura interrupted him, "Just be yourself - I'm sure that it would make her happy."

Seeing his look of blank curiosity she elaborated but only slightly, knowing that if she mentioned anything about marriage to her teammate that he'd never write to her. "She's been having a bit of a rough time lately and I thought that you'd be the best to cheer her up."

"Why would I be the - "

"Just write the letter, Naruto." She said with a slow smile, "It won't hurt anything, and you'll be making her feel better."

"I, well, I suppose." He still sounded dubious, but Sakura inwardly exulted because she knew that he'd at least write one letter - after that it would be up to Hinata to do the rest.

* * *

The paper glared at him. Naruto, never being the sort to turn down any challenge, glared right back. What on earth was he supposed to write? He chewed thoughtfully on his pen. Sakura-chan had said it was a good idea but Naruto couldn't see how. 

What was he supposed to say to Hinata? He hadn't talked to her since right before the finals... he counted up the days on his calendar and was surprised to realize that nearly two months had passed since then. Wouldn't it be weird if he started talking about that? Though Sakura-chan had said that Hinata had been having a bit of a rough time lately... he scowled. If Neji was giving her trouble then Naruto was going to have Words with the older boy. Hinata didn't deserve that when she was so nice.

He supposed that he could talk about that – Sakura-chan always was nicer to him for a bit when he complimented her… though then he always managed to say the wrong thing and have her wind up hitting him anyway. What did you say to a girl you hardly knew?

Was he supposed to be polite? He knew that Hinata came from a really prestigious Clan and that she might take offence if he was anything less than… civilized. Naruto let out a groan of dismay. He wished that Sakura-chan had told him why this was supposed to be a good idea. When he'd pressed her for details, she'd merely smiled with a devious glint in her eyes.

Naruto decided to hell with it. He'd write the stupid letter – and if he wanted to talk about the weather then he would.

_Hey, Hinata-chan!_

_The weather's nice today, mostly. A bit chilly and the sky's got that steel color thing going on that means it is probably going to storm later… so I guess the weather isn't all that great…_

Naruto groaned and flung his pen across the room. This was more than hopeless! He'd only make her laugh at him and then he'd lose one of the few people he could maybe call a friend.

"What _are_ you doing, squirt? Didn't I tell you to get cleaning?"

"Ero-sennin!" Naruto spun around and scowled, "What are you doing in here?"

"I let myself in." His sensei told him calmly, "It's quite a collection of traps you've got plastered around this place. Some of them clever, even."

"Try knocking next time!" Naruto said grumpily. It was one thing if Sakura-chan did it – she came in the door at least and was his teammate.

His sensei gave him a long look, "Where's the fun in that?"

"I don't care if it isn't fun – the door is there for a reason."

"Alright, alright – hold up." Ero-sennin held up his hands, "What's got you acting like a puffer fish?"

Naruto thought, for a few seconds about not telling him, but then realized that his sensei might actually be able to help him out a bit. Ero-sennin knew all about girls, right? "Sakura-chan thought it'd be a good idea for me to write a letter to Hinata." He showed what he had of the letter to Jiraiya. The man didn't laugh, though his eyes went shiny with suppressed emotion. "That's all I've got so far."

"Do you know why Sakura would want you to write to another girl?" Jiraiya took a seat, uninvited, on his bed.

Naruto shrugged uncomfortably, "She said that Hinata's been having a bit of a rough time lately and that it would cheer her up."

"Who is Hinata anyway?" Jiraiya asked, "What do you know about her?"

"Well," Naruto thought aloud, "She's really shy – and for some reason whenever she talks to me she goes really red and has to sit down. She's fainted a few times, actually. Hinata's a Hyuuga, so she's got those freaky eyes and short indigo hair. Um… oh! She's also really cool! You should have seen her in the Chuunin exam, she just wouldn't stay down no matter how many times she fell. And she had this medical cream that worked like crazy!" Naruto nodded his head enthusiastically, "She's the type of girl I really like!"

"Hmm."

Naruto glared at his teacher – he could tell that Ero-sennin was trying not to laugh at him. "What's so funny? Do you know why Sakura-chan wants me to write to Hinata?"

"Why don't you tell Hinata," Here Jiraiya looked away from him, "what you think of her? All girls like to hear that someone likes them."

"Sakura-chan hits me when I tell her." Naruto said accusingly. Jiraiya laughed and Naruto flung a pillow at him. "It's not funny." Naruto sulked, "I don't get it."

"Well, why don't you write to Hinata and see what she thinks?" Was his teacher's suggestion, "If she hits you, you can call me a liar – but most girls like compliments. I'll tell you what, you can even ask her to see us off when we leave."

Naruto's eyes widened, "Not even Sakura-chan knows when we're going!"

"Consider it a gift." Jiraiya winked at him and Naruto scrunched his face up in confusion, "Just tell the girl."

_Hey, Hinata-chan!_

_The weather's nice today, mostly. A bit chilly and the sky's got that steel color thing going on that means it is probably going to storm later… so I guess the weather isn't all that great… _

_Sakura-chan said that you were having a bit of a hard time lately. Is there anything I can do to help? If Neji's bothering you I'll come beat him up again! Just say the word. Anyways, I know that the exam ended quite a while ago but I wanted to say that I thought you were awesome! Go Hinata!_

_Next time you'll kick Neji's ass for sure!_

_I don't know if you've heard but I'm leaving on a training mission and so I'll be gone for a few years. (So if you need my help, ask now!) It's a bit of a secret but I got permission for you to come and see me off._

_If, you know, you feel like it and don't have anything better to do._

_Anyway, Ero-sennin's starting to look cranky, so I've got to wrap this up! Maybe I'll see you around some time?_

_-- Naruto_

_P.S. I'm leaving on November 1__st__ – at six in the morning! If you feel like it come see me at the eastern gate at quarter to._

Naruto stared nervously at the letter. It wasn't the best, and it definitely wouldn't win any formal prizes but it said what he'd wanted it to say. Now he just had to send it to her.

Would she bother to respond?

For some reason, when he asked Ero-sennin that his sensei burst into laughter. Naruto had a feeling that everyone knew more about what was going on than he did.

* * *

To say that Shikamaru was unhappy when he made his way to Team 10's training area at five minutes after five and found that the only other one there was Asuma-sensei was a bit of an understatement. Frowning at his sensei, who merely lit up a cigarette, Shikamaru took another look at his letter. 

It still said five o'clock.

"You're late." Asuma-sensei said with mild disapproval, "That's not something I'd expect from a Chuunin."

What kind of a hello was that? Shikamaru scowled openly and snapped, "At least I'm here before the others." Which was weird, now that he thought about it. Ino had this thing about punctuality and Chouji wasn't the sort to sleep in, not when it came to team activities – that was his job. Of the three of them Chouji took the team the most seriously, and then Ino. Where were they?

"And that," his sensei said in a drawling voice, a smile quirking at his lips, "is because I, being a terribly kind and considerate sensei, said they don't have to show up until seven."

Shikamaru fought the urge to smile. His sensei was a moron at times, but it was too early in the morning for him to make the effort to humor him. Instead he asked, sardonically, "And I didn't rate this consideration?" In truth, even if he was allowed to go back to sleep the chances of him being able to do so were slim. Once he was awake it was difficult to get back to sleep back at his place. Shikamaru was convinced his relatives had no sense of volume control. There was never a need to _stomp_ down the stairs at quarter to five in the morning.

Asuma-sensei took a long drag of his cigarette and said, "I needed to talk to you. This was the least problematic way of going about it."

Oh. Well. Shikamaru could certainly appreciate _that_. "What did you want to talk to me about?" He asked curiously, crossing his arms over his chest. After two months of work the vest didn't feel quite so awkward now as it had when he'd first gotten it. He'd been just a surprised really when he'd learned that he was the only one to pass. Shikamaru had been convinced that the village would have promoted their last Uchiha just on the strength of his name alone. Politics were often a deciding factor in the promotion of new Chuunin.

"As a Chuunin," Asuma-sensei said seriously, "You out-rank your teammates. This means that your responsibilities are different."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. It wasn't like he didn't already know that – he'd gotten the lecture from both Hokage-sama and his father. Then from his uncles _and_ Aunt Miyako, who was an active Jounin despite her husband's attempts to convince her to retire. He hadn't thought though that he'd have to hear it yet again.

"Going by your expression though… I'll spare you the rest of the speech." Asuma-sensei's eyes crinkled with suppressed amusement and Shikamaru snorted his disgust.

"It did happen two months ago." Shikamaru pointed out, "I have had some experience acting as a Chuunin." And he'd been right that it was more troublesome than just being a Genin – even though his mom had lightened up a bit about his bad habits. The increase in life threatening danger hardly made that a fair trade off in his opinion.

"You haven't had this sort of experience." Asuma-sensei promised him, "I'm giving you nominal command of Team 10."

Shikamaru gaped and then spluttered, "Why would you do such an irritating thing?" He didn't want command – especially not over the two of them. Chouji listened to him, but even before the exam Ino'd had the tendency to do things her own way, leaving Shikamaru to make her plans work out. He liked that. It had been a challenge.

"You need to learn to be comfortable as a commanding officer. It's standard procedure, actually. You say you've worked as a Chuunin for the last while, but you haven't really." Asuma held up one hand to forestall Shikamaru's protest, "Yes I know that the missions were harder – but you were still the most junior member on most of your teams, right?"

Shikamaru nodded. There wasn't much that he could say to that – under war conditions there would have been more Chuunin his age, some Jounin even, but a decade of peace meant that most Genin didn't hit Chuunin until fifteen, sixteen. "What's that got to do with it?"

"You need the practise. Ino's got a natural flair for leadership that you lack, even if her strategy often needs work, and Chouji's even worse than you about just following the lead of someone else." Asuma-sensei raised his eyebrows, "But both of them have more time to work on it than you do. As Chuunin, you're expected to be able to take command. Even if it is just your teammates."

Shikamaru swallowed hard. Ino was going to kill him. Standard procedure or not, he doubted that she'd thought about what that would mean to the dynamics of their team. He certainly hadn't. "What about you?" Shikamaru asked suddenly, "It doesn't mean that you're leaving us, right?"

That got him a laugh. "I wouldn't do that to you. No, you're stuck with me a while longer – though it does mean that if there's a mission Konoha needs me for that you'll be in full command of Team 10 until I get back."

Shikamaru's mind shuddered away from having to deal with that situation. "Was that everything you wanted to talk about?"

"No."

Surprised, Shikamaru looked up at his sensei with a frown, "What else did you want to discuss?" Hopefully it wouldn't be anything near as irritating to deal with than contemplate the thought of Ino's reaction when she was told that Team 10 was no longer her team to command.

Asuma-sensei frowned at the grass, then asked bluntly, "What's going on between you and Ino?"

"At the party? We had a fight. That's it." Shikamaru tried not to let his distaste for the subject matter show even as he rocked back on his metaphorical heels.

The knowledgeable look Asuma-sensei gave him made Shikamaru scowl, "I heard what happened at the party – and both of you were way, way out of line. But that's not what started it."

Shikamaru refused to look at his sensei. This wasn't anyone but his and Ino's problem, so why couldn't people just leave them alone to work it out in time? It was just a stupid fight.

When it became clear that he wasn't going to answer, Asuma-sensei sighed and snubbed out his cigarette, "You made her cry."

"I did, what?" He asked, startled, "When?"

"A few weeks ago."

Then why was he bringing it up now?

"She came to my apartment and cried on my shoulder for over an hour."

Shikamaru's stomach twisted with guilt, his mind flashing back to the Ino in his dreams who was always sad. Ino wasn't the type of girl to cry at the drop of a hat, she tended to get angry instead. He knew that from years of experience. Shikamaru didn't think that their fight was worth that many tears.

"I'm not saying you don't have some valid points, though at some point I'd like to hear them from your point of view instead of deciphering Ino's incoherent explanations," Asuma-sensei continued on, "but Ino seems convinced that you don't trust her."

Shikamaru's jaw firmed. "I'm not talking about this."

Trust, as far as he was concerned, had very little to do with it.

* * *

C&C, please! Also, if you spot any spelling or grammatical errors I'd love to hear from you! The next part should be up by Sunday! 


	5. Chapter 4: Reformation II

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 04 Reformation (Part II)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 4 of ? Unbeta'd. Also, Eli, I wasn't trying to say that Ino was the only one for the job - it's a test, they've already got ANBU on the scene. Sorry for any confusion! That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Asuma eyed the building Kakashi lived in thoughtfully.

He'd left Shikamaru back at the training area with a wave and a promise he'd be back by seven. Grumbling Shikamaru had been settling down against a tree, when Asuma had left. He was a man of his word – he'd be back in time.

He just wouldn't be alone.

Asuma had thought long and hard about what exactly he could do to Kakashi as punishment for stealing and sending one of his students on an A rank mission. He'd been right too; Shikamaru would have died if Asuma hadn't managed to show up. That, despite the fact that Kakashi had been well within the rules – Missions in times of upheaval and all of that – and his rights – as Jounin they were allowed to direct the Genin wherever they'd be best suited during a conflict – didn't change the fact that Asuma was distinctly _not happy _with the man.

If Shikamaru had died it would have been Asuma that had to tell his parents the news. Not Kakashi. That, in his mind, gave him all the reason to find ways to make Kakashi's life as miserable as possible for a good long while. Kakashi had gotten back from a mission in Kusa late the night before – Asuma's powers of persuasion were nothing to scoff at and the cute young things at the Mission Centre had been happy to tell him what he needed to know.

If he'd judged it right, and if his informants had told him the truth, which they might not have, being Chuunin and therefore sneaky like that, Kakashi was running on about four hours sleep. Hardly enough to get up and make a drinkable cup of coffee. Which meant he wouldn't be up to a fight. The mission had been a tough one, Kakashi did have a tendency to wind up doing S class missions with disturbing regularity, and Asuma knew what it felt like to crash after a long mission.

(That it was also the best time to ambush and coerce him was also part of the plan – after all, Kakashi had graduated from the Academy when Asuma had still been getting the hang of using kunai.)

Breaking into the apartment though, even with Kakashi exhausted wasn't something that Asuma wanted to do lightly. No doubt Kakashi had traps and shit everywhere (Asuma didn't bother, if someone wanted to kill him then he'd have to put up a hell of a fight) and while Asuma was good…

Kakashi had always been better.

Instead, he jumped down to street level and entered the building. Finding out Kakashi's room number wasn't hard. Stopping outside the door, Asuma lit up a cigarette and then after checking that no one else was in the immediate area leaned on the door bell.

It took longer than Asuma had thought it would for the man to answer the door. He'd thought that Kakashi might have gone out a window or something, which, to copy Shikamaru's catch phrase, would have been troublesome. But still doable, so Asuma had prepared for that eventuality.

"Asuma?"

There was faint distaste in Kakashi's voice. Asuma didn't let it bother him – he had threatened the other man with severe bodily harm the last time that they'd talked. However much Asuma fooled around, he took his teaching seriously, and Kakashi had really pissed him off. Only Kurenai's intervention had stopped him from starting a fight right then and there.

"Kakashi." He said coolly, "Get dressed and let's go."

He got an insolent stare for his troubles, "I'm going back to bed." Kakashi said wearily and started to shut the door.

Asuma's foot shot out and held it open.

He smiled, but not pleasantly, "You're getting up and helping me with my team."

There were ways that he could have perhaps made the whole idea more playable. Asuma, though, never had been much of one for pansy-ing up his words if he didn't have to. And since he wasn't on a mission, or with Kurenai… well, no need to be polite. Not to Kakashi.

It took him nearly forty-five minutes to get Kakashi into uniform and out the door.

The other man, doing his passive aggressive best to slow Asuma down or talk him out of training, was severely disgruntled by the end of it. He knew though, in the end that Kakashi had only given in because Asuma had pointed out, in a voice that dripped ice, that it was only fair after what Kakashi had ordered one of his students on. After all, training with three teenagers for the morning (and depending on how things went possibly the afternoon), was a small price to pay as far as Asuma was concerned.

Kakashi had shut up rather quickly after that and it had become slightly easier to get the other man to go along. Asuma might have given up had he not been so irritated with Kakashi, but as it was he persevered and in the end it was only five minutes after seven when they made it back to the training area. Kakashi was pointedly ignoring him.

On the other hand, Asuma wasn't going to rub his face in the fact that Asuma still had students whereas Kakashi's had all left him to find better teachers. That was going to make it painful enough for Kakashi having to deal with Asuma's team, even if the man was too stubborn to let it show, and Asuma didn't think rubbing it in would be of any use. Kakashi had buried his nose in his book anyway, so it was easy not to say anything as they headed towards the training area.

"What the hell are you wearing those for?" Shikamaru's voice was the first thing that Asuma heard as he made his way through the undergrowth.

"Why does it matter to you?" Was Ino's tart reply. Asuma heard Chouji say something in a low voice and came into sight of the three of them to see Ino shaking off Chouji's hand and glaring at Shikamaru with her hands on her hips. For his part Shikamaru looked no happier. Even his hair looked pissed.

Teenagers.

Well, he'd see if they could work together today despite that or not. Either way, it would be informative. And possibly painful for the kids. That was life as a ninja though and he'd warned Kakashi not to use lethal force.

"Isn't it early to be fighting among yourselves?" Asuma asked mildly.

Ino spun around and he could see what had prompted Shikamaru's disgruntled question. Perched on Ino's nose were a pair of violently pink glasses. An equally pink band secured them around the back of her head, for stability, he guessed. Asuma could feel a headache coming on… if this was another one of the fads that were going around lately he'd have to have a talk with her.

But Asuma thought he could vaguely remember something about Ino's father with a pair of glasses when Asuma had been her age.

Which meant that it was probably training of some sort. Asuma made a note to ask her about it after the exercise he had planned for them. Chouji was looking good – something that had been a concern of all of them since that mission. Asuma would have to test him out too just to see where he was at. What he had in mind for the three of them would be a good start, however.

"Asuma-sensei!" Ino beamed at him and Chouji did the same. Shikamaru rolled his eyes.

"Right kids, it's good to be back in action." He slapped his hands together, "Now first a few things before we get down to training for today – since we've been apart for so long and you've all been training," here he paused and gave them a mock stern look, "at least you better have all been training, I'm going to want to go over your knowledge individually later on today."

They nodded. Chouji looking quietly determined, Ino resolute, and Shikamaru bored.

"Now, to address Shikamaru's change in rank and what that means for the team. As a Chuunin," Asuma told them seriously, because this wasn't something that he wanted them messing up on, "I'll be giving Shikamaru nominal command of Team 10. I expect you two to listen to him. I'll still be around, so if you wind up in over your heads I'll be able to help, but I expect the three of you to learn to handle missions on your own."

Ino's hands tightened into fists and her eyes narrowed. Shikamaru was eyeing her nervously, and Chouji looked like he wanted to step between the two of them. Well, Asuma had known that it would cause problems – as far as Ino was concerned _she_ was the leader. Both of the boys had been fine with that. This change in roles on the team was one of many reasons he had for not planning to take them out on missions until he'd gotten a better handle on what had happened in his absence.

He carried on quickly before Ino could open her mouth. "Right then, since we haven't seen each other for so long let's go straight back to the basics." Asuma told them while reaching into his pockets and drawing out two bells. He tossed one to Kakashi, who caught it without looking up from his book. "Kakashi-sensei has agreed to help me. You haven't done this one before, but it's the exam he uses to pass Genin teams. Let's see, if by his standards, you can manage what your classmates did."

Asuma hid a smile as Ino bristled visibly. He knew that she wasn't the sort to take a jab to her pride easily. That was something that he'd have to work more with her on, though he guessed that his progress wouldn't be all that great. Inoichi, from what he knew, was much the same. Asuma could only hope that Ino proved to have the same luck as her father when it came to getting out of things alive. Otherwise, her pride would be the end of her.

"What do we have to do?" Chouji asked, looking worriedly at Kakashi and then back at him.

"Come at us to get the bells." Asuma invited, falling into a ready stance, and tucking his bell into his belt, "Normally there's only one Jounin, but you three aren't fresh out of the Academy, so I thought I'd make it a bit of a challenge. You have until noon, and you can't leave this training area."

Shikamaru scowled. He was no doubt calculating the odds they had. Asuma knew that they weren't likely to be good – against two Jounin Team 10 had several disadvantages at this stage in their training. The largest one being that both the Nara and the Yamanaka Clans relied heavily on long range for the first bit of their training. Chouji was the only one with the training background to even think of taking them on in a straight taijutsu fight, and his stay in the hospital wouldn't have helped him there.

Being a ninja though meant at times you had to work against really shitty odds. Asuma thought that this was a good enough test for them. If they could bring it together he thought they'd be able to get at least one bell off of them by noon.

"Ready?" Asuma asked the three of them.

It was with a sigh that Shikamaru spread his feet so he was better balanced. Ino dropped into a half crouch, one hand inching towards her weapons pouch. Chouji shook his arms out and slipped into a basic taijutsu stance.

"Steady." That was mostly for Ino, who had a tendency, one he thought her father encouraged, to attack first and question later. In the field it wasn't that bad of a thing, but it did mean that she had at times jumped the gun a bit. Asuma had changed the wording to remind her to keep her cool.

"Well then," A positively evil grin came across Asuma's face and Kakashi looked up, vaguely interested, tucking his book away, "Go!"

The kids vanished.

* * *

"Hinata-sama, a letter for you." Hinata took the letter that was offered from the servant with an inquiring look. The servant, one of her father's personal ones, bowed and murmured, "From the Hokage."

"Thank you." The servant bowed again and Hinata was left alone. It was nine in the morning and she had been heading over to the dining room for breakfast after a few hours of training by herself. Now she stopped and turned the letter over in her hands. She didn't know what it was for – yesterday she'd gotten her notice of reformation while she'd been out training, so it couldn't be that… and what business would the Hokage have to do with her?

Unless it had something to do with her engagement plans.

A frown briefly crossed her face before she got her expression under control. Tucking the letter into her kimono, Hinata continued on to breakfast. Anything out of the ordinary from her would bring people asking questions. From what she understood of the talks, Neji-niisan was the current favorite, despite the fact that a few of the elders had protested about how closely related they were. Privately, Hinata agreed.

Outwardly, though, she remained silent. This might be her wedding they were talking about – and the rest of her life – but Hinata had known that it would be arranged according to the needs of the Clan from when she was small. She'd just thought that she'd have more time. To maybe make him…

Even in the empty hall Hinata colored slightly. Of all the people she knew Naruto was one that she'd bet could make the Hyuuga Elders back down. Several times Hinata had considered leaving the position of heir to her younger sister, but she knew that her father wouldn't stand for that particular disgrace. He'd been able to brush over her defeat in the Chuunin Exams easily once Neji had been beaten by the 'dead last'. After all, he'd said coldly, if the most talented Byakugan user of her generation had not been able to win, how was she to do any better? Then he'd upped her training.

The biggest change, she'd noticed, from the exams though was Neji-niisan's manner to her. No longer did she get the creeping hatred and anger from him whenever they were told to train together. It was a welcome relief, the cessation of hostilities on his part. Even her father had been better lately, coming to watch her train and offer advice that wasn't in the guise of a put down. Hanabi… well, she couldn't have everything work out. Her younger sister was mostly confused by the changes.

That did not mean though that she wanted to marry Neji.

It would be easier to lodge a protest, however timid that it would come out under the eyes of the Elders, if she knew what Neji was thinking. Hinata knew what his teammate Tenten was thinking, but that wasn't the same thing. Not at all. She appreciated the company, and Ino-san's and Sakura-san's offers for her to come and talk made Hinata glad she had such people around her.

This though, was a problem she couldn't easily talk about. None of her classmates had to deal with an upcoming marriage so soon. Ino's family didn't practise it, Sakura was only a first generation shinobi, and Tenten would put a kunai through the eyes of the first person that suggested she get married so soon.

Reaching dining room, Hinata paused for a moment to clear her face of any worry, and then slipped into the room. Luck was with her and she managed to eat quickly without having to make more than amical small talk with a few of the younger branch members. Her father, she'd learned, had eaten earlier with Hanabi. Neji hadn't been seen yet – though Hikari-san mentioned having seen him earlier in the morning, leaving the compound. It was decided that he was most likely training.

Excusing herself from the table Hinata headed for her rooms. She had an hour until the training her father had promised her for today. Hinata planned to spend that hour reading one of the family scrolls to see if she could increase her understanding of the Byakugan. After training with her father, she had to meet up with Kurenai-sensei.

Her plans, though, were derailed by the presence of Neji waiting outside her door.

"Neji-niisan? Is there something the matter?"

"Hinata-sama, did you have time to talk?" Neji answered her question with another. He was dressed in his training clothes, and she could still see the thin sheen of sweat on his face. He must have come immediately from training. Hinata made her hands remain still even though they wanted to fidget. She was getting better at that, slowly, since the Chuunin Exam.

Hinata opened her door, stepped through, and gestured for him to come in, "I have training with Father in an hour though." She said in a half warning that she really couldn't talk all that long. Taking a seat on her bed, and leaving the chair at her desk for Neji, Hinata looked at him curiously as he shut the door firmly behind him.

To her surprise she realized that Neji was nervous. What had he to be nervous about when talking to her? At the same time she was warmed by her improvement – two months ago she wouldn't have been able to tell. Neji was good enough at keeping his emotions hidden that even some of the Elders had problems knowing what he was thinking.

"Hinata-sama," He began stiffly, taking the seat she'd left for him, "I wished to speak to you about _that_ matter."

The marriage then. There was no other matter that she thought he'd speak of with such reluctance. She'd had, after the Chuunin Exam, seen him react like this while apologizing for what he'd done. Humility did not come easily to her cousin.

Hinata tried to keep the hope off of her face, when she spoke her voice was calm and clear, "Go on." Slowly she was learning when to speak, and more importantly how to speak when it came to him. More than anything her cousin valued composure.

He took a deep breath, and Hinata pretended not to notice that his hands were shaking slightly. It would only serve to make him angry and that was the last thing that she needed. "You know that the Elders favor me for your match." He said finally.

Neither of them, Hinata knew, had been allowed to sit in on the talks. Her father informed her in clipped sentences when she asked. Neji no doubt, was getting his information the same way. The other candidates were getting the same treatment, she knew from talking to the servants.

Realizing he was waiting for an answer, Hinata spoke, "Yes." That was all she had to say – after all, Hinata knew her father was disinclined to let someone of Neji's talents leave the main house. If it wasn't her, then Hinata held no doubt that Hanabi would face the prospect of marrying Neji in a few years time.

"This prospect is… displeasing… to me." Neji said slowly as if he wasn't sure that she'd be offended. "I wished to know your opinion."

Hinata knew from looking at him, that if the marriage went ahead then he would do his duty to her and the Hyuuga Clan. She however wished for love. Neji was someone she was slowly being able to call a friend, but love was harder to come by, and Hinata's heart had been set on someone else for years.

She picked at her bedspread, eyes lowered, "It is not what I had hoped." Hinata admitted. She however, was Hyuuga too, and if it came down to it she'd do it to the best of her ability. There was pride, even in her.

Neji sighed, and she looked up at him catching the brief flash of relief on his face. "Did you have another in mind?" He asked after a few moments.

Hinata went scarlet at the direct question.

He laughed at her, but without any malice. "Would Hiashi-sama approve?"

She shook her head, struggling to get her embarrassment under control, and grateful that Neji didn't seem inclined to push her to name the one she liked. "N – no, he's not Hyuuga." Her voice was nearly a whisper. It went without saying that if her father got wind of this, then she'd be in trouble – the disgrace of her falling for one like Naruto would be one her father wouldn't condone.

Neji stood, she looked up at him knowing that her apprehension showed on her face despite her best efforts. "Hinata-sama," Neji's voice was firm, "If you should lodge a protest, I will stand beside you."

"Y – you don't even know who it is I like." She said finally, wishing that her stammer would stop showing when she was upset. Hinata had gotten better at keeping it from appearing when she talked normally, but her emotions proved to be her downfall every time.

"Nonetheless, I will stand with you on this." Looking at Neji, Hinata knew that he would keep to his word. All the same though, she didn't dare name her crush within the Hyuuga compound. Her father had his ways of finding out about things she would rather keep secret.

Hinata smoothed her hands over her lap, feeling the crinkle of paper. "I will lodge the protest." She acquiesced.

Neji bowed to her, a faint smile showing, before his face cleared of all emotion. "Hinata-sama, I'll take my leave then." The respect in his voice made her flush.

There was something that she wanted to say though. She got up and took two quick steps towards him, "Neji-niisan?"

He turned at the door and looked at her.

"A – ano, Tenten-san…"

"I'll talk to her." Neji promised, then he was gone.

Hinata took a deep breath and reveled in the fact that she would be doing something and that Neji would be there to back her up if she faltered. Tugging the letter out of her kimono, Hinata regarded it curiously. Cracking open the seal another piece of paper fell out and she bent to pick it up while reading the letter. There wasn't much to it.

_Hyuuga Hinata, _

_Due to certain parties the enclosed letter would not have made it to you had it gone through the regular channels. If you wish to reply, entrust its delivery to me._

It was signed with the Godaime's personal seal. Even more confused – what sort of letter wouldn't her father have let her read? – Hinata folded the first letter and opened the second.

The second was from Naruto.

Written on cheap paper, and with his messy writing, it took her a few minutes to puzzle out what he was saying. When she'd read it through a second time to make sure her eyes weren't deceiving her, Hinata blushed.

_Oh my_, she thought faintly, staring at the letter incredulously, _I think I need to sit down_.

* * *

Crouched behind a tree, Shikamaru made sure that both Chouji and Ino were nearby. Chouji was a few trees further back and Ino was up in the tree right behind him. For his part Shikamaru wished that Asuma-sensei hadn't decided to be so… challenging.

Shikamaru didn't have to be a genius to know that Ino was glaring holes in the back of his head. He'd known that she wasn't going to be happy, even if Asuma-sensei had managed to forestall Ino's complaints by not giving her time to open her mouth. What was Asuma-sensei thinking? The three of them against two Jounin?

_Troublesome._

Being careful to keep his chakra muffled so that they wouldn't notice him as quickly Shikamaru signaled to Ino and jerked his head at Chouji. Her answering nod was short and he could see the anger in her movements as she slipped from one tree to the next, making her way over to Chouji.

When she'd reached Chouji, Shikamaru began moving towards them, his mind already going over the variables he had to account for. Asuma-sensei hadn't said that he and Kakashi-sensei would be working together. When in doubt it was better to prepare for the worst.

"What are we going to do?" Chouji murmured, his eyes darting between the two of them.

Ino, though looking mutinous, said nothing.

Shikamaru was grateful for small mercies. He didn't know what it was that kept her mouth shut, but if it gave him a chance to get them through this test, then he'd let her shriek at him later about it. And keep his grumbling at her to a minimum. After all, taking command of Team 10 hadn't been his idea. He shoved those thoughts out of his mind.

Right now he had two Jounin that they had to take on.

"What do we know about Kakashi-sensei's abilities? He can summon dogs." Shikamaru asked them – he knew about his reputation of course, ANBU at thirteen and all that. The Sharingan too. But he'd never seen the man in action.

Chouji frowned as he thought and Ino bit her lip before speaking, "He's faster than Asuma-sensei. More traditional as well – mostly uses kunai and shuriken, coupled with advanced taijutsu and ninjutsu."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at her. Where had she learned that?

She flushed angrily, "I saw him during the Oto Invasion."

Wisely Shikamaru didn't press it. Instead he settled down to think, catching the warning look Chouji gave Ino when she looked like she wanted to say something. This was going to be a pain.

* * *

It was quarter to eight and Asuma was starting to get bored. He'd located his kids in the first ten minutes but had decided that he'd let them work out a bit of a plan first. After all, it was only a test. Kakashi was still ignoring him though the man hadn't yet pulled out his book again.

"More patience than any of my three." Kakashi said quietly, startling Asuma from his thoughts, "Naruto would have attacked by now."

"Shikamaru and Chouji aren't the sort to rush into things, and Ino knows when it would be stupid to." Asuma didn't mention that it had taken him a few months to get her to slow down enough to stop and think about the situation in front of her eyes. Ino had gotten too used to being at the Academy where there wasn't enough to challenge her. "They'll attack soon. What would the others be doing?"

"Hmm?"

"Naruto's teammates. What would they be doing right now?" Asuma asked curiously.

"Sakura would be cursing Naruto's impatience and Sasuke would be plotting how best to take advantage of the situation."

Asuma pretended he didn't hear the faint pause over Sasuke's name. He was saved from figuring out how to respond to that by Ino's voice.

"Support?" Ino shrieked shrilly, "I can do more than that, Shikamaru and don't you dare deny it!"

Asuma winced.

Kakashi coughed and his eyes were amused, "Trouble brewing?"

"They've been fighting for the last two months." Asuma said shortly. He had hoped that they'd be able to work together…

The ground underneath him exploded.

* * *

"Support?" Ino shrieked shrilly, "I can do more than that, Shikamaru and don't you dare deny it!"

The forest around her went quiet. Her teammates were no where in sight. It was perhaps the only part of this plan that she enjoyed. Shikamaru, after haggling with her, had agreed to give her a slightly more proactive role. It wasn't what she would have wanted to do, but it was better than what he'd planned for her in the first place.

Her goal, right now, was to serve as a distraction. Shikamaru had told her to yell something once he and Chouji had finished setting up the second stage of the plan, to make it seem like they were still fighting over what to do. Ino had grudgingly given up the idea of being the first one to strike when Chouji had mentioned that his father had taught him Dochuu Eigyo no Jutsu. That jutsu was too useful for her not to see that it was better for him to attack first. It allowed Chouji to hide underground and attack where Asuma-sensei and Hatake-san weren't expecting it.

Ino inched closer, fingering the three kunai she'd wrapped explosive tags around. Smoke bombs dangled from their hilts. Once Chouji had done his part she was to add to the confusion by causing a few more explosions, giving Shikamaru a chance to trap one of the Jounin in his shadow.

_There._ The ground underneath Asuma-sensei exploded and she got a brief glimpse of Chouji's back before she focused on Hatake-san. She flung the first kunai, aiming so that it would land close to him, her other hand quickly forming the seals that were needed to activate it. The second and third followed it quickly.

The kunai went off almost simultaneously and she could hear Asuma-sensei swearing from within the smoke. Ino felt a grin curving her lips. She had missed stuff like this, but Ino knew better than to remain still. That would only be inviting an attack on her. Being careful not to break cover Ino made her way around the edge of the clearing until she was on the opposite side from where she'd flung the kunai. Ino found Shikamaru where he'd said he'd be. Kage Mane no Jutsu was active and reaching towards the battle. Ino crouched at his side, waited, ready to defend him if she had to. "Where's Chouji?" She hissed at him.

He grunted, sweat pouring down his face, "Back underground." Shikamaru swore, "I can't reach them without breaking cover. We're heading to plan B."

Ino grinned.

* * *

Chouji watched the surface carefully, making sure that he didn't break his cover and trying not to think about how much chakra keeping the jutsu active for so long was eating up. He could tell that Shikamaru hadn't been able to capture either of their targets. Knowing that Ino was due to start _her_ frontal attack on Kakashi-sensei, Chouji moved until he was under Asuma-sensei again.

When Ino attacked, her goal was to drive Kakashi-sensei further away. Then Chouji was to grab on to Asuma-sensei's feet and hope that Shikamaru managed to capture him before Asuma-sensei got free. Chouji wasn't enthusiastic about his chances to hold their teacher for very long.

He heard it rather than saw it when Ino made her move. Chouji grinned imagining the determined expression on her face as she attempted to sweep Kakashi's feet from out from underneath him, the Jounin cursing when Ino followed that attack up with a sharp kick at his knees.

Chouji shook his head, and braced his feet in the earth. Quickly he shot his hands up, grabbing hold of Asuma-sensei's ankles.

* * *

Kage Mane no Jutsu was a success the second time around. Shikamaru could feel the sudden weight on the other end of the jutsu and from the sudden stiffness of Asuma-sensei's body, that his sensei had recognized the jutsu. Knowing that against Asuma-sensei's will the jutsu wasn't going to hold out for long - not when he'd wasted a fair bit of chakra on an attack that failed – Shikamaru called out sharply, "Chouji, get the bell."

Watching his friend pull himself out of the ground behind Asuma-sensei, Shikamaru kept a careful eye on what Ino was doing. Now that the shock of being out right attacked was over, he noticed that Ino had been forced on to the defensive and that every blow that Kakashi tried to hit came just a bit closer to hitting her.

"Got it!" Chouji said, already sinking back underground. They had decided that it was the safest to hide the bells beneath them.

With a sigh, Shikamaru released Asuma-sensei. Dodging to the side as several kunai narrowly missed him, Shikamaru swore. He'd hoped that with his bell gone Asuma-sensei would be down for the count. Now he had his sensei after him, and Ino was losing more and more ground against Kakashi-sensei and he wasn't able to come to her aid like they'd planned.

Pulling himself up into the trees, and subduing his chakra, Shikamaru thought about what he could do to somehow salvage the situation. He knew that he didn't have much time – Asuma-sensei would find him any second now.

* * *

Ino knew she was in trouble.

It was taking too long for Shikamaru to get his lazy ass over to immobilize Hatake-san and with every second that passed Ino knew that she was losing. While her first and second blows had worked – he hadn't been expecting her to attack his knees – after she'd lost the element of surprise Hatake-san was kicking her ass.

Ducking under another blow Ino wished that she dared to take a look behind her to see what Shikamaru was doing. She'd heard that Chouji had one of the bells, how long did it take Shikamaru to knock out Asuma-sensei? And where was Chouji?

"Baika no Jutsu! Nikudan Sensha no Jutsu!"

Ino leapt backwards, just in time to avoid Chouji's technique as he headed towards Hatake-san. Pulling out an explosive tag, she quickly wrapped it around the hilt of another kunai as Hatake-san got out of Chouji's way. Closing in on the man as Chouji struggled to right himself, Ino lashed out with her feet.

She missed.

Hatake-san, evidently tired of playing around, caught her hand the next go around and flung her across the clearing. Ino barely managed to get her feet under her in time to avoid landing painfully. Glaring at him – that had hurt! – Ino flung herself back into the fray as Chouji attacked Hatake-san from behind.

* * *

Shikamaru winced as a shuriken grazed his arm. Asuma-sensei wasn't pulling his hits as much as he'd used to do and Shikamaru was finding that he had to remind himself to compensate for that. Using chakra to stick to the slick branches of the tree he was in, Shikamaru peered around for his sensei.

He couldn't see him and he couldn't sense his chakra.

The only reason he knew for sure that it was Asuma-sensei was because he'd gotten a glimpse of Ino and Chouji fighting against the other Jounin. They'd been losing – which was hardly surprising considering who they were up against, and Asuma-sensei wasn't giving him long enough to think about what to do next.

Leaving the tree, very carefully, Shikamaru crouched amid the underbrush and began making his painstaking way over to the other two. There was no way they were going to be able to get the bell off of Kakashi-sensei in a full out attack. The man had too many years of experience on them. They had to back off and regroup, somehow buying time to make another plan of attack.

Shikamaru never sensed Asuma-sensei behind him.

* * *

Ino climbed to her feet, rolling quickly out of the way of another attack, and circled around to Hatake-san's other side as Chouji continued to evade his attacks. For the moment he ignored her, Ino knew better than to think that that would last for long.

She still had her kunai, not having had the time to set it off. Now was, she judged, as good a time as any. His back was turned to her and Chouji would be shielded from most of the blast if she aimed for the ground that Sakura's pain in the ass sensei was standing on.

Narrowing her eyes in concentration, Ino ran through a simple set of seals. The explosive note on the kunai would go off, now, in less than twenty seconds. Ino took sight and aimed.

"Ino! Look out behind you!"

Chouji's warning came too late and she was hit from behind, by something large and heavy. Crashing into the ground, ungracefully, Ino's kunai slipped from her grasp and went flying even as she realized that it was Shikamaru that had smashed into her. Her kunai hit Hatake-san in the back.

"That's…" Shikamaru said painfully, "One way of getting over here. Asuma-sensei's going to pay."

Ino's eyes widened as she realized what was going to happen – the Jounin was too busy hiding a laugh to pluck the kunai out. She thought that it had only managed to lodge itself in the fabric of his vest, there was no way he'd ignore a kunai in the back otherwise.

"Get out of the way Chouji!" Ino shrieked as she shoved Shikamaru off of her. Shikamaru rolled off of her and looked confused as she backed up rapidly, one hand grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"What's the matter now?" Asuma-sensei asked coming from behind.

Her kunai exploded.

* * *

"What happened to you?" Sakura asked her as Ino stripped off her shirt on Shizune-sensei's orders. She'd found her sensei talking to Tsunade-sama and Sakura outside of an office. Shizune-sensei had taken one look at Ino and ordered her into the room.

Ino hadn't argued, her back was killing her. She glared at the door of the office as Shizune-sensei helped her out of her shirt. "Asuma-sensei sent Shikamaru flying into my back."

Sakura winced. "I take it training didn't go well then?"

"Depends on your definition." Ino muttered vilely, "I'm sure Asuma-sensei had a lot of fun."

"Stay still." Tsunade-sama ordered, "I'm going to run a diagnostic. Backs can be tricky. Sakura, pay attention."

"Yes, Tsunade-shishou!"

"When did this happen?" Shizune asked as Ino fought the urge to twist and see if she could tell what Tsunade-sama was doing, "I'll teach you the jutsu later, Ino-kun, pay attention."

She flushed, "Yes, Shizune-sensei."

"Now then, how long ago did this happen?"

Ino thought about it, "Maybe nine-thirty this morning?" she hazarded a guess, "I wasn't exactly paying attention to the time, and it didn't hurt this badly then."

Shizune-sensei's lips compressed to a thin line, but Tsunade interrupted her before she could say anything. "Well, Ino-kun, you're in luck – it's just a bad set of bruises, nothing serious. I'm going to heal the worst of them, but you'll be stiff for the next few days. Make sure to tell your sensei that."

"Yes, Tsunade-sama."

The cool press of healing chakra against her bare back made Ino want to shiver. She didn't though, having endured several lectures from Shizune-sensei about proper respect. Besides, staying still meant that it would be easier for Tsunade-sama to heal her.

"How'd the glasses do?" Sakura asked, gesturing to the top of her head, "Did you wear them like that for the whole day?"

"No. I wore them normally - the band worked well until Asuma-sensei managed to cut it." Luckily that hadn't happened until near the end of training. Ino considered bringing up the matter with Shizune before deciding against it – she could ask when the Hokage herself wasn't attending her injuries.

"I assume that had something to do with training and isn't just a fad? Those glasses must cut down on your peripheral vision." Tsunade-sama asked as she pulled her hands away.

"Yes, Tsunade-sama. It's on my father's orders." Ino grimaced, several times during training kunai that she hadn't even seen had managed to come close to hitting her. Asuma-sensei's careful aim was the reason she wasn't more scratched up than that. She needed to work on her taijutsu more.

Gratefully, Ino got dressed again, before bowing her thanks to Tsunade-sama. She was dismissed with an absent wave of the Hokage's hand.

* * *

Asuma leaned against the outside of his apartment block as he waited for Kurenai. They'd agreed to talk about how their teams were functioning after the first day that they'd had them back.

He wondered if he could just tell Hokage-sama that he was throwing in the towel and giving up. Today had been painful, to say the very least, and he had a headache that no amount of nicotine was soothing. The fact that his kids had managed to pin an explosive tag on Kakashi and send the man flying had been the highlight of the training exercise. Even if it had been by accident.

"Hey, you look like you've been put through the wringer." Kurenai called over the general murmur of the crowds as she threaded her way over to him.

Asuma grimaced and held the door open for her. He wasn't much of a gentleman, but he knew that she appreciated it when he tried. This, at least, was easy. "Remind me why I volunteered to take charge of three teenagers? And thought that it was a good idea at the time?"

"They were that bad, huh?" Kurenai sounded amused as unlocked his door and went to make tea. "My team worked wonderfully - the Chuunin Exam was good for all of them, even with what happened after."

"Definitely the opposite for my team. Their first attempt was the best, but it fell apart the moment they had to improvise – and they never got it back together." The fact that Shikamaru's head long crash into Ino's back had managed to hurt her no doubt had something to do with that. By the time he'd let them go she'd been walking stiffly, and he'd ordered her to head to the hospital to get her back checked out. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious. He hadn't thought that Shikamaru would actually crash into her like that when he'd sent him flying. Asuma made a note to work on Shikamaru's reaction times.

Asuma sighed as Kurenai hugged him from behind, "Chouji's finally back to where he was just before the exam - and he's going to have to work hard to catch up with the other two. Shikamaru's been working harder than he'd ever admit to, the lazy ass, it's obvious just from the way he moves..." He trailed off as they headed over to his kitchen table, tea in hand, and settled down.

"And?" She prompted after a few seconds, blowing gently on her tea to help cool it. Kurenai's red eyes were amused, "What about your girl?"

Asuma's lips quirked into a smile, "My girl? I thought you had that position filled?"

It was fun to tease her, he thought with satisfaction, as she blushed, "That wasn't what I meant!" Kurenai kicked him lightly in the shin. "Answer the question."

"Ino's... the problem really." He took a long sip of his tea, "Only it's not fair at all to call her that. You should see the amount of work she's done - it's like she's a completely different girl than the one in the exams. I think that it is affecting the boys more than they'd care to admit - Shikamaru keeps trying to make up strategies based on what they knew before and Ino won't stand for it. She knows that she can be more than support now and it grates on her that he won't let her. Developed a fondness for explosive notes." Just as well she was an only child with a father that doted on her - those things were expensive.

"She's changed that much in just a month and a half?"

He hid a smile. Kurenai's curiosity had been piqued, which was one of the things that he liked about her, "We could hold a joint session if you'd like to see for yourself." Asuma offered, refilling her cup at the same time, "Maybe you could tell me what I'm missing."

From the tension between the three of them today, Asuma was glad he'd had no plans to let them go out on missions for a good while. The last thing they needed was to wind up in trouble and even the simplest missions could go dreadfully wrong at times. Asuma wasn't going to have them in danger when they couldn't even work together enough to making it through a training exercise.

Kurenai toyed with her tea cup, "I know," she said quietly, "if I was the only one on my team not picked for a mission, and then finding out the reasons why I wasn't picked – by my own teammate no less – that I'd be more than upset."

Ino had said as much, only more incoherently to him a few weeks ago. For some reason though Asuma hadn't thought to apply it to their practical teamwork – even though he'd seen the difference in her personally. He blamed that, mostly, on the fact that he'd hardly seen his team at all since the end of August. It was nearly the end of October now.

He rubbed his face and groaned. "I knew that," Asuma admitted when Kurenai glanced at him with a question on her face, "Ino told me herself, that she was upset about it. I just hadn't applied it to everything."

That didn't explain _Shikamaru's_ problems though. He said as much to her and Kurenai swirled her tea thoughtfully.

"Well, he's a Nara," which Asuma had to admit was something that was hard to forget, "and the last time that he saw her in action was the Chuunin exams?"

Asuma nodded slowly, Shikamaru hadn't seen her in the arena during the finals. She'd managed to hold her own well enough then – but he'd been off chasing after Sasuke. And Asuma had been chasing Shikamaru.

"All I've seen of her is at the exams." Kurenai continued on, "From that I would say, he'd made the right decision. The strengths of her Clan aren't the ones that would have been needed – but that doesn't make a difference in the way we feel. I'm sure Ino knows that her chances of survival wouldn't have been high if she'd gone. Shikamaru…" she paused and looked thoughtful, "I don't know him personally, mind, but I think that the mission shocked him into actively thinking about what could happen to Ino as an active kunoichi – and he doesn't like the conclusions he's come to."

Oh man, more than just the regular Nara sexism on top of it? His head started hurting again – Asuma knew that this wasn't going to be a good time for him as their teacher.

"She's a fine kunoichi for her age – even from what she was at in the Chuunin Exams - but the strength that was needed for the mission wasn't her strength. I'd guess that he thinks about that, and then about the mission where his other teammate nearly died. He's overcompensating." Kurenai smiled at his woebegone expression, "I think that in the long run you're going to find that Ino was the most affected of your three by that mission – but that Shikamaru's mental injuries will take the longest to heal."

"What should I do about it? I'm not exactly the expert on teenage girls." He finished his tea and debated if he wanted another cup, or if he wanted a drink of something stronger.

"You mentioned that Ino's been training hard," Kurenai observed as he gave up and went to dig a can of beer from the refrigerator, "What has she been doing with herself? It's not often that you're so profuse in your acknowledgement."

Kurenai would know, Asuma admitted ruefully. More than once she'd told him that he had to express his pride in his kids more openly – and to their faces. It was good for them, Kurenai had told him seriously, kids liked to know what their instructor was really thinking.

"I know her father's been teaching her a few more Clan jutsus and Ino's been working heavily on her taijutsu – and it showed today in her sparring – and," here he hesitated because Ino hadn't wanted him to tell people about her training, but then Kurenai wasn't just anyone, "She's been working with Shizune in the hospital to learn how to be an effective field medic."

"I would like to see her." Kurenai admitted, "I can't reconcile the idea with what I saw in the Chuunin exams. A medic? Does she want to go all the way?"

"No," He shook his head, "She said that because the missions that best suited her capabilities were out of her range, most Yamanaka run into the same problem you know, that she wanted to have a few other skills to fall back on in a more general sense. Even while she's this upset with the boys, she doesn't want them hurt. "

"My team has a C rank mission tomorrow, so we'll be gone a few weeks – it's just a border patrol, so unless we run into anything untoward we shouldn't have any troubles – but did you want to meet up after that with the teams?"

"I'd like that yes," Asuma could admit that to her, "At the moment I'm not letting my three on any missions. They couldn't even accomplish the bell exercise today – when before teamwork was their greatest asset. They did manage to blow up Kakashi by accident though."

Kurenai winced.

Asuma laughed and getting up to put the dishes in the sink called over his shoulder, "Enough about me though, what about your team? Anything new with them?"

* * *

C&C, please! Also, if you spot any spelling or grammatical errors I'd love to hear from you! 


	6. Chapter 4: Reformation III

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 04 Reformation (Part III)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 4 of ? Unbeta'd. The ANBU mission doesn't really start off until the end of my Chapter 05 - which will be either Chapter 08 or 09 on here (depending on how long it turns out). I've still got stuff to cover before that! That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Ino stared at the ruined, blackened bits of hair that lay limply on her desk. Shizune-sensei's ideas about how to go about her 'Hair Tie no Jutsu' sounded good in theory. Practise though needed a bit more work. 

"Right," she muttered to herself, sweeping away the remains of that failed attempt and tugging a few more strands off of her hair brush, "I'm so, _so_ glad I listened to her." It had been Shizune-sensei's idea, yet another one, to practise the jutsu out on free bits of hair first before trying anything that was attached to her head.

Creating a jutsu - even one as small and insignificant as what she wanted to do - was a lot harder than it seemed, Ino was finding. She had a small scroll nearly covered with theories and ideas all that worked out just fine on paper, but flaked out when she attempted them gamely one after the other. Thank goodness that even with her hair cut Ino had more than enough that had been brushed out to do it this way so long as she stuck to only a few strands for each attempt.

Marking a little red 'X' against yet another failed theory, Ino narrowed her eyes and read through the next one on the list. Surely one of them would be what she was looking for. She'd come up with enough scenarios – her father had suggested that – and Ino had acknowledged it as a good idea.

He'd said, "If you really want to do something, be thorough."

Ino had done her best, but it was really frustrating when attempt after attempt failed on her. The first three had gone up in flames, quite a few hadn't done anything, two had writhed like she'd electrocuted them and this one had lit up for a few seconds before falling apart and leaving burn marks on her desk.

It wasn't, she thought grumpily, like she hadn't animated her hair before. Ino had been pleased with herself for managing to do it in the Chuunin Exam preliminaries. Sending her chakra through the hair as a conduct to trap Sakura had been easier than this.

Chewing thoughtfully on her pen, Ino grit her teeth in determination and set an old, broken pair of glasses (she'd gotten them when she was three) near the hair and ran through the seals she'd scribbled down. The hair twitched towards the glasses – and for a moment Ino thought that she might be getting somewhere – and then with an audible _snap! _the hair curled in on itself. That was new.

Carefully removing the glasses from the table, Ino didn't have many spares and was loath to have them get ruined, she narrowed her eyes at the twinned curls of hair. Waiting a few minutes – just to be safe and sure that they weren't going to explode or anything – Ino gently poked the right curl with her pen. The pen skittered on the surface of the curl. A quick check of the other produced the same result.

Gingerly Ino picked up a curl and turned it over in her hands. The jutsu had caused her hair to fuse together and become solid. Ino checked back in her notes trying to see what had caused _that_ reaction.

Some time later, and a few attempts more, Ino was pulled from her studies by the sound of her mother coming up the stairs talking to someone. The shop was closed today, so that wasn't the odd thing, but Ino hadn't heard anything about visitors – she hadn't even heard the door!

"Ino-chan!" Her mother said brightly as she opened the door and ushered Shikamaru in, "Shikamaru wanted to talk to you – I didn't think you'd mind if I just showed him straight up." The last was said with a faintly uplifted eyebrow.

Ino scowled down at her hairbrush. Her mother had been trying to get them to reconcile from the party and Ino was getting tired of having to explain that she didn't really want to talk about what was really going on.

Still, Ino knew from the look on her mother's face that the best thing she could do was put on a good face while Yamanaka Mui was in the room. Besides she could always be cranky at Shikamaru who, Ino noted, looked rather uncomfortable. Ino forced a smile on her face, "It's fine, Mother."

Then they were left alone. Ino did a quick survey of her room, glad that she'd always been a tidy person and so didn't have embarrassing articles of clothing hanging around everywhere. She did hope that he didn't notice the medical scrolls near her bed though. Ino didn't feel up to explaining that to him.

He shifted uncomfortably.

Ino abandoned her chair for her bed, moving carefully. Her back was still sore – Tsunade-sama's idea of a 'bit stiff' was not her idea of it and it had been bad enough yesterday that Asuma-sensei had taken one look at her and sent her back home to rest – but Ino had promised herself a bath later if she managed to get through the day without using a painkiller.

"Take a seat," she invited, "if you're going to stay for awhile."

A frown creased his forehead as he looked at her, "I wanted to see how your back was. Asuma-sensei was worried."

"It'll be fine in a few days, Tsunade-sama said." Ino told him as he took a seat, "I'm just not allowed to participate in 'overly strenuous' training until then."

He looked down, but not before she caught the guilty expression on his face. Ino very carefully didn't roll her eyes – Shikamaru was hard enough to deal with lately without her having to upset him further. "It's not your fault." Ino told him bluntly, "I'm blaming Asuma-sensei."

"I'm the one that couldn't recover fast enough to avoid hitting you." Shikamaru said finally, "And I _hurt_ you."

"It's not serious – " Ino began only to be cut off.

"That's not the point! It could have been."

"Well then," Ino retorted, "It's my fault too then because I didn't sense you at all until it happened! Looks like I've got to work on sensing that as well."

He stared at her for a few moments before shaking his head and muttering something that sounded a lot like 'troublesome woman' before saying, "Look. I just wanted to say I'm sorry for hurting you. I shouldn't have."

Shouldn't have? What was she, glass? "Shikamaru, it was a training accident. I don't blame you." The fact that it gave her the time to work on theories for her jutsu was just a bonus. It wasn't the first time, and she doubted that it would be the last time, that Ino had gotten hurt during training. Training injuries though were a lot better than getting hurt while on a mission.

From the set of his face though Ino knew that he blamed himself. She sighed, not knowing what to else to say. Shikamaru fiddled with the hair on her desk, frowning as he took in the burn marks on the protective covering she'd put over the hard wood. "What are you doing to your hair?" He asked sounding dubious.

"I'm trying to create a jutsu that will let my glasses stay on while I'm fighting." Ino told him, getting up with a wince to walk over to her desk so that she could better show him what she was talking about. Shikamaru was out of the chair in no time and Ino took it when she realized that arguing with him that it hadn't been necessary would be merely wasted air. "I did learn something at least from Asuma-sensei's idea of a first day back. Did you want to look at my theory?"

Shikamaru shrugged slightly, "Sure."

Ino tugged her scroll over so that he could read it. Shikamaru leaned over the back of her chair, his hands resting carefully on either side of her. She hunched her shoulders slightly, unsettled a bit by his closeness. "What do you think?" Ino asked somewhat nervously after he'd been quiet for a few minutes.

"Your third attempt failed because you neglected to compensate for the repeated rabbit seal." He said thoughtfully, "That's the only thing I see wrong with it. Most of your ideas seem sound." Ino could feel him frowning above her, "From the looks of your desk though I take it that they aren't working?"

Ino huffed, then winced at the movement made her back ache worse. "You want to see how badly it's working?" She handed him one of the fused curls from earlier, "That's from attempt number twelve."

He turned it over in his hand and reached out to tug the scroll closer. "Hmm."

This was how it had used to be, Ino thought moodily. He'd make the plans and criticize hers while she'd lead the team around and together they had managed to get things done. Shikamaru always had been better at things in the abstract than she was.

Shikamaru sighed, "I can't see anything wrong on paper. Did you want to go through the next few attempts with me here?"

Ino blinked, tilting her head up to look at him. "You want to help me?"

It was hard to see his face from her angle, but Ino thought that he looked slightly annoyed that she'd even think he wouldn't want to help her, "Well, those glasses of yours are a liability at the moment." He told her grumpily, "I don't like them – there were a few hits you should have been able to dodge with Asuma-sensei. They're cutting down on your peripheral vision." Shikamaru was the only one she knew who could sound quite that unhappy while being completely logical. The thing was, Ino knew all of that already and was taking steps to fix that problem.

"They're for training." Ino told him smartly, tapping him on the arm, "Father's the one who told me to wear them."

His sigh of exasperation was long suffering, and Ino could tell Shikamaru was rolling his eyes at her, "You going to tell me what they're supposed to help you out with then? 'Cause as far as I'm concerned it's only a hindrance."

Ino hit his chest lightly with her head, "It's for training. Clan stuff, you know how that goes." She didn't feel like elaborating for the moment, couldn't he just let her be?

To her surprise, he dropped it and they focused on the glasses. When he left a few hours later, they hadn't gotten it to work, but Ino thought that they were on the right track. He'd had a few good ideas about the execution of the jutsu while at the same time working out a way for it to not be a total drain on her chakra. That had been something that Ino had fretted about. The drain, however small, wouldn't be so bad while she was still only allowed on D rank missions but anything more than that would be pushing it if the mission took awhile.

Cleaning up the mess of hair on her desk Ino bit her lip and blinked back tears. It had be alright today, but she doubted that he'd let her do what she could while on the field, and they hadn't said anything about the fight at their party. It had been between them, an invisible barrier of sorts, the entire time that he'd been there.

And when he'd left, Shikamaru had muttered something about having to be more careful during training and that had made her bristle. Only her mother's presence as she had shown him out had kept Ino from snapping at him. If he wanted to improve his reaction time that was fine with her – but she was a full member of Team 10 and not going to let him forget it. If he wanted to shove her in the back where she'd 'be safer' then Ino wasn't going down without a fight.

"Theory meet practise." Ino murmured as she went and found her place in the current medical text that Shizune-sensei had assigned. Why did boys have to be so confusing? Shikamaru wasn't making any sense at all lately. Perhaps if she worked harder it would start to make sense? At the very least Shikamaru wouldn't know what hit him. He'd given no indication of noticing her medical books.

"Teach him to underestimate me." She muttered vilely to her book.

* * *

Her hands trembled as she zipped up her coat. Hinata frowned at them until they steadied. This was no time for her to be backing out. Not at five in the morning on November 1st. Naruto had asked for her to come – Hinata would rather die than disappoint him. Not when he'd seemed so unsure if she would be there. 

All around her the compound was quiet.

Mostly an illusion she knew, while it was early, the servants would already be stirring, and on the training grounds there would be a few of the family already hard at work. Hinata was glad of that. It would make her excuse, if she was stopped, that much more believable. With one last look around the room to see if she'd missed anything, Hinata took a deep breath – she could do this and she _wasn't _going to faint – and slipped out of her room.

She was stopped not three steps down the hall by Hanabi's sleepy voice.

"Nee-san? Where are you going?"

Hinata turned and gave her sister a smile, her excuse coming to her lips without hesitation, "Tenten-san promised to help train with me." Hanabi looked like she'd just been getting a glass of water before heading back to bed with her nightgown askew and her hair rumpled.

"Will you be back for training later?"

"I should be." Hinata shifted from one sandaled foot to the other, "A-no…"

Hanabi yawned, "Go train, nee-san. I'll see you later."

Luckily, Hinata managed to make it out of the compound without another interruption. She had a brief glimpse of Neji-niisan, he did not see her, as she passed the training grounds. Hinata promised herself that she'd work hard on being as good as she could be – after she'd seen Naruto.

When she arrived at the eastern gates Hinata was surprised to note that the Chuunin guards were no where around. Leaning against the wall as nonchalantly as she knew how Hinata activated her Byakugan, ducking her head so that it wouldn't be immediately obvious what she was doing. It was the matter of a few moments to confirm that while the Chuunin were gone, two ANBU were watching the gate carefully in their stead. No Hokage would ever be so foolhardy as to remove _all_ security. With a relieved sigh, Hinata released her Byakugan.

Time passed slowly while you were waiting for someone. Hinata had shown up early in the hopes of having more time to talk to Naruto, but it was looking like he hadn't thought to do the same. Tugging his letter out of her jacket, Hinata smiled fondly at it, even though it was too dark to read it without making an effort. She knew what it said anyway from having read it more than once and wondering if he really meant that she could see him off.

"Hinata-chan?" Naruto's voice, sounding surprised to see her startled Hinata out of her reverie.

Her head jerked up, and she was glad that it was dark enough to mostly hide her blushing. "N - Naruto-kun."

"You really came," He said walking up with a tall white haired man just behind him, "I wasn't sure you would."

Her hands trembled and she clutched at the hem of her coat to hide it, "W – why wouldn't I?" She asked while cursing her stutter. Hinata had been, since the Chuunin exam getting better at not letting it through, but Naruto was flustering her.

Naruto laughed and she stiffened, wondering this had been just a joke at her expense, but before she could say anything around the sudden lump in her throat he spoke, "I just thought you might be busy." Naruto said with a shrug, "Sakura-chan said you've been working hard."

Sakura-san had said that about her? Was that what Tenten had mentioned about Sakura-san putting in a few good words for her a few days ago at training? "I do have t – training," Hinata admitted after realizing that Naruto was waiting for an answer, "But it's a little bit later than this."

"Going to introduce me?" The old man asked Naruto, "Or should I just leave you and your girlfriend alone for a few minutes?"

Hinata flushed even as Naruto managed to squawk his outrage, "She's not a _girlfriend_, ero-sennin! Hinata-chan's just a friend!"

Ero-sennin? Hinata wondered even as she struggled to regain her composure as Naruto continued rail at the man. She shuffled nervously, unsure of her place in this scenario – Naruto had called her a friend, for now that was enough for Hinata.

"Anyways," Naruto said brightly turning back to her, "Ero-sennin's known as Jiraiya of the Sannin, but my name suits him better. Don't ever talk to him alone, okay Hinata-chan?"

Naruto was training under one of the sannin? "O – okay?" Hinata said watching Jiraiya-sama roll his eyes behind Naruto's back and give her a smile and a thumbs up. She smiled helplessly back at the both of them. "If you say so, Naruto-kun."

"Good." He beamed at her then scowled so ferociously that Hinata almost took a step back, "And don't let Neji boss you around! I won't be here to help you out, so you've got to stick up for yourself!"

They talked for a few minutes longer, Hinata trying not to stutter and Naruto having to slow down so that she could keep up with his train of thought. Eventually though Jiraiya-sama coughed and said, "We've got to get going squirt. Tsunade's Chuunin flunkies will be coming back any minute."

Naruto scowled at this even as he turned to go. "I'll talk to you when I get back, Hinata-chan!"

Before she quite knew what she was doing Hinata reached out and grabbed his arm. He looked at her curiously and Hinata stared determinedly at the ground knowing that she wouldn't be able to keep it together if she stared at his face. "A – ano, I hope your trip goes well." Hinata peeked up at him from behind her bangs and flushed.

To her surprise his face was gentle, "Thanks Hinata-chan. It means a lot to know there's someone cheering for me." He paused then said in a rush, "Ero-sennin said I could write letters to Sakura-chan and Obaa-san, if I did the same for you would you respond?"

Hinata felt faint and it was sheer determination that kept her upright and coherent at the thought of Naruto wanting to write to her. "I – I would be honored."

He hugged her. Startled, Hinata couldn't figure out how to respond before it was over and he was grinning sheepishly at her. "I'll send them to Obaa-chan, she'll make sure you get them."

"Come _on,_ brat! We're on a schedule!"

"I'm coming, ero-sennin!" With one last shared smile, Naruto bolted through the gates after his sensei.

Hinata slumped against the wall for a few long minutes, before managing to regain her composure enough to head off to the field where she liked to train. She didn't even try to hide the smile on her face, even though it was the last time she'd see him for a good three years.

The day was, she thought, pretty close to perfect.

* * *

Chouji was heading home from training - if you could call watching his team rip apart at the seams training - when he saw her. Sakura looked tired and her pace was slow as she headed the other way carrying several heavy books and a scroll piled haphazardly on the top. The whole thing looked like it was going to topple at any second.

He was hungry. Chouji though, for some reason, decided to go and talk to her anyway. Perhaps Sakura would be able to shed some light on... well, on the current situation. After watching Shikamaru and Ino both behave like five year olds for the last week and a half Chouji couldn't lay the blame solely on either one of them. As far as he was concerned the both of them were to blame.

He was getting sick of it. Something had to change.

"Sakura-san," Chouji greeted her cheerfully, "You look exhausted. Hokage-sama working you hard?" She blinked at him for a moment and he wondered just how tired she was.

"Yes." Sakura said unconvincingly after a few moments too long of a pause, "It's a lot of work."

Chouji frowned a bit and looked her over more carefully. He wished he knew her well enough to pry – Sakura looked like she needed someone to pry right now. Filing the thought away for a time when he could do something about it, Chouji gently tugged a few of the books out of her hold. "I'll help you." He offered serenely, as if he hadn't noticed anything amiss, "Which way are you headed?"

She smiled at him slightly, though he could tell her heart wasn't in it, "I was just going home." Sakura's shoulders slumped slightly and Chouji decided that, really, talking to Sakura didn't have to mean he had to go hungry.

"You hungry?" He asked her, "We could stop by and get a bite to eat – there's a dango place next street over that's not too bad." While Chouji knew that others joked that he was willing to eat anything, he knew that being an Akimichi only meant that you were pickier in what you did like.

Sakura's smile this time was a little more genuine, "If you want to. My parents aren't expecting me back until later."

Leading the way to the restaurant, Chouji drew Sakura into a few more details of her training. "You have to _memorize_ all of these?" He asked incredulously as they entered and found seats that afforded them a good view of the rest of the place.

Situational awareness, Chouji could hear Asuma-sensei lecturing him, was something to be practiced at all times. Not just when he felt like it. Letting Sakura take the seat that had the best view, Chouji sat with his back to the door despite the way it made him slightly uncomfortable.

He'd been practicing lately and it was making him jumpy – not to mention hanging out with Shikamaru and Ino was becoming a time when he _needed_ to keep a constant eye on his surroundings. They placed their orders with a friendly waitress and Chouji let his mind wander as Sakura talked about was she was learning as the Hokage's apprentice.

Yesterday Ino had tried to nail Shikamaru with a Katon jutsu during a spar, only she'd misjudged the distance and nearly hit him. Asuma-sensei hadn't been happy with her. Ino at least had been genuinely contrite when she'd apologized to him after training. Chouji had forgiven her but had made sure to stand further away during training today. He wasn't going to risk being fried when she was still learning the jutsu.

" – and then Tsunade-shishou told me to practice it a hundred times daily… Chouji? Are you listening to me?" Sakura's voice brought him out of his musings about his team. Ino had been especially cranky today – her knee to Shikamaru's crotch hadn't been an accident no matter what she said. Asuma-sensei's lecture on proper protocols when training had made Chouji think that he wasn't the only one who thought that.

"Ah sorry, sorry." He rubbed his head sheepishly, a thought occurring to him, "Hey, Sakura-san? Do you know what's going on between Ino and Shikamaru?"

To Chouji's surprise, Sakura looked suddenly uncomfortably as she fiddled with her napkin. "Well…" she said slowly, "what do you know about it? We could compare notes."

The turnaround of his question gave Chouji pause. Luckily it went unnoticed because their orders were brought out. They were silent as they ate for the first bit, but Chouji had been thinking about that answer for awhile. "It's a bit different for both of them, though you have to watch them in action to really get what's going on. Ino's pissed at Shikamaru plain and simple – though I don't know what about – and for the most part Shikamaru's the same way. Getting them to train together is like asking cats and dogs to get along." Chouji chewed thoughtfully, "But it changes when he's got to make the mission strategy. Every time he puts her in the most easily defensible position which only makes Ino madder because that's often back up. Ino's bad at being backup."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Ino's got to have it her way."

There was nothing he could do but nod his head, it was true. "What do you know about it?" Chouji asked hoping that she could shed some light on the whole situation before it became unfixable. Asuma-sensei was looking more dispirited with everyday that passed and things staying the same.

Waiting for an answer Chouji watched as Sakura took a long sip of her water, stalling for time but Chouji was willing to let her so long as he got a response. "How has she been treating you?" Sakura asked finally, looking frustrated. He could understand that – if Ino had told her more then Sakura wouldn't want to betray a confidence.

"Me?" Chouji shrugged, "Just like normal actually." Which meant when it came to Ino, berating him half the time, snubbing him slightly when he sided with Shikamaru, being a good friend when he needed it and being able to work together no matter what.

"And your sensei?"

He frowned at her, not seeing where she was going with this line of questioning, "Same as usual. What are you hinting at?" Chouji couldn't stand it when Ino danced around a subject and it was no less irritating when Sakura did it.

She blushed prettily, "Well, if Ino's change of behavior only really affects Shikamaru, right? You might ask when it started and then look around for possible causes from that. That's what I'd do anyways. " Sakura looked at him pleadingly, "I can't really say anything more."

Chouji nodded, already thinking about what she had told him. They paid for their orders and headed out. They were near Sakura's area of town when Chouji said abruptly, "It's that mission, isn't it?"

"Well," Sakura said with a peculiar smile on her face, "That was the start of it at least. I'll see you around."

He watched her go wondering what on earth that was supposed to mean. Chouji was disgruntled to realize that he wasn't any closer to figuring out what to do than before. He headed home to train. Sometimes it was easier to think things through when his body was otherwise occupied.

And his dad had promised to start showing him another jutsu.

* * *

Training with Hinata wasn't at all like doing it with Neji, Tenten mused as she flung another brace of kunai at the girl whose eyes were narrowed in concentration. Hinata had approached her, a few months ago, of her own volition to ask if she would have the time to help her train.

Turning down a request from Hinata had never even entered Tenten's mind. For one thing it was nice to work with someone who treated her like she was doing a favor (even though Hinata was doing Tenten one as well with the extra practise) and for another it gave her a chance to make another friend.

At the Academy Tenten had grown used to mostly hanging out by herself – most of the girls in her class had been more interested in the more traditional kunoichi arts like genjutsu - whereas she'd always been fascinated by the many types of weapons there were and the novelty of having friends, girl friends of her own had yet to wear off.

Tenten had taken to Hinata the first time that they'd been formally introduced. It had taken her some time though to get the shyer girl to open up and talk to her. Spinning and flinging the last of her shuriken at Hinata, Tenten found that she had to dodge quickly because Hinata managed to deflect them back at her.

Behind her a buzzer went off. Tenten fell out of her ready stance, easing her hands away from a few senbon. Hinata, further out in the clearing, came to a full stop and let her Byakugan drop. "How did I do?" Hinata asked her as they went and gathered up the weapons.

"You're doing a lot better." Tenten said cheerfully, "Soon I won't be able to hit you at all."

The Byakugan was, as far as she was concerned, an unfair advantage against a weapon reliant shinobi. With a field of vision so wide, Tenten found it hard to score hits that they could dodge – her favorite tactic so far was to simply bombard them with projectiles until Hinata and Neji went down. There was power in numbers after all.

"How've you been lately?" Tenten knelt and carefully ran her hands through the long grass. Senbon were notoriously hard to spot. She winced slightly as her hand found one, gently tugging it out of the grass with a care for her other fingers.

Hinata handed her another one, which Tenten accepted with a smile and tucked it into her shirt. "Father is unhappy with me." For once the Hyuuga heiress managed to look unaffected by that news, "He doesn't like that Neji-niisan and I have no wish to marry."

"Does he know who you have in mind?"

Hinata blushed, "A – ano, I didn't think that it would be prudent."

That was probably right, Tenten decided as Hinata ran one last scan of the training area with Byakugan to make sure they hadn't missed any weapons. Hyuuga Hiashi wasn't likely to care for Naruto thanks to his clanless state. "Has he written to you since he left?"

Hinata shook her head but didn't seem disheartened at all, "It's only been a few days. Naruto-kun always keeps his promises."

Tenten wondered what the boy had done to earn such devotion. While she'd been a year ahead of Hinata and Naruto in the Academy she hadn't ever noticed that Naruto had gone out of his way to treat Hinata any differently than anyone else. When Tenten had first discovered that Hinata liked Naruto she hadn't been able to resist prying for more information. Strong, brave, and kind were things that a lot of guys could have applied to them. What kind of a ninja was a coward?

"I'm sure he does." Tenten agreed cautiously. She wished that she'd had a chance to get to know him a bit better during the exam.

"How has Ino-san been doing?" Hinata asked, obviously changing the subject.

Tenten smiled. Ino had just gotten the all clear yesterday from Hokage-sama to resume full out training and had tracked her down for another hour long dodge practise. She'd done better than the first time, though by the end of it, her arms and legs had still been quite bloody. "She's just fine, working hard though."

And the problems with Ino's team hadn't gotten any better from what Tenten understood, but that wasn't something that she felt Ino would want spread around. It was a bit strange, Tenten felt, that she'd managed to make friends not with the kunoichi her age but with the ones the year below. Some of the time she wondered what it would have been like to be in class with them and if anything would have changed.

"A – ano, isn't that Neji-niisan?" Hinata said with a faint frown on her face, "I thought he had training with Father this morning."

"Well, we'll see what he wants this time." Tenten crossed her arms over her chest. Neji had actually come and talk to her – Hinata had asked her if he had – about the marriage arrangements, but that didn't mean that she'd entirely forgiven him. She would, but Tenten thought that he could stand to suffer her displeasure a little longer. If only he'd suffer a little more obviously!

"Hinata-sama, Tenten-san," He greeted them smoothly with a slight bow of his head for Hinata, "A letter came for you, Hinata-sama."

"A letter?" Hinata blushed slightly, "A – ano, but from whom?"

Neji looked slightly discomfited, "A frog gave it to me, something about the Hokage's orders."

"A _frog_?" Tenten snickered at the image of Neji having to talk with a frog. Interestingly enough, Hinata had gone beet red at the mention of Tsunade-sama's orders. "What orders does the Hokage have on your letters?" Tenten thought she might have a good idea.

"N – Naruto-kun promised you see… but my Father… and Hokage-sama said that she'd make sure I got his letters." Hinata confessed, looking like she wanted to sink into the ground without the aid of a Doton jutsu.

Well how about that? Tenten thought, watching Neji assimilate the fact that his cousin liked the boy that had beaten him in the Chuunin Exam. Maybe he does keep his promises.

* * *

A day's worth of hard training had done her good. Asuma-sensei had, the night before, told them not to show up for training in the morning – Ino suspected that it was mostly that he was getting sick of dealing with them and needed a break. She'd spent a great deal of it with Shizune-sensei at the hospital. Shizune-sensei had started teaching her the way to close small wounds, and they'd done a bit of review on identifying common poisons and what their antidotes were.

Ino was smiling as she entered through the back door of her house – she did enjoy a good lesson, and these days with the way that Team 10 was going her medical studies were the only good part of the day. Well, and her Clan Jutsu. To her surprise, Ino found her father fussing with some flowers at the kitchen table.

"I thought you had a mission?" Ino asked him curiously as she got herself a glass of water.

"I do." He said absently, most of his attention obviously caught up in the arrangement, "I leave tonight."

She watched him fret with some gardening wire for a few minutes before asking, "Do you think you could teach me some taijutsu?" It had been something she'd thought during training today. After all, she figured that if he was teaching her the right way to use the Clan Jutsu then it only made sense that she learn to use taijutsu the way he did as well.

He looked at her, "Right now?"

Ino shrugged nonchalantly. She was aware that he was busy - but if he was willing to put it down to help her out then... "When you can - not that I'd say no to a lesson right now - but I've finished reviewing everything that the Academy teaches, and Asuma-sensei will have Chouji to worry about."

She was well aware that thanks to having been in the hospital for so long, that Chouji would be taking up most of Asuma-sensei's time when it came to one-on-one training. It didn't bother her that much. After all, she wanted Chouji to do well. But it did mean that she had to look further than she might have for additional training. Ino had asked Shizune-sensei about it but the woman had confessed that her style relied too heavily on medical jutsu for Ino to get much good out of it.

"Right." He said firmly, glaring at the arrangement. "Let's consider this a failed experiment. Help me clean this mess up and we'll head outside - I'll need to see where you are before I can teach you anything new."

Ino helped him gather the scattered blossoms, and rinse out the tall clear vase he'd been using. That done, and the kitchen table returned to its former pristine condition, Ino followed her father outside.

She was very glad that he'd left his staff behind. Ino wasn't sure that, yet, that she wanted to learn how to use one. The fact that she hadn't yet reached her full growth was a concern - what use was a staff if you had to constantly adjust it for your height? Ino knew for sure that she had a few more years before she hit the height she'd be for life - neither of her parents were short and she doubted that she would be.

The fact that Ino thought she'd look fantastic tall had nothing to do with it. Well, at least, not very much to do with it. She was just a girl after all, and certainly not against looking wonderful.

Walking with her father was something that she hadn't done for quite a while. Ino quickened her pace until she was next to him and impulsively slipped her hand into his. She ignored his sidelong glance down at her but smiled when his hand squeezed hers gently. So what if she was considered an adult legally? This was her father.

"Got something on your mind, princess?" He asked as they walked, leisurely, through the streets. They were heading out near the Nara deer fields, back when her father had still been only Chuunin, Nara Shikaku had given him a bit of land to use as a place to practise.

The Nara Clan was a large one, it was odd that Shikamaru was an only child really, unlike her Clan, and they had the land to spare.

These days, she knew, that if her father had wanted to he could have bought a small training area closer to home. Ino never asked him why he didn't. It had something, she guessed, to do with how their friendship worked.

Ino didn't mind the walk, besides. It was a nice fall day. She shrugged, lightly, in response to his question, "Nothing out of the ordinary." Just lessons, training, and Shikamaru, really. She'd done her good deed for Hinata - Sakura had told her that the shy heiress had gotten a letter from Naruto, so that was out of her hands. Ino tried to keep in touch with Tenten, their plan for meeting up weekly was proving harder to match schedules than they had anticipated. Mostly because of the difference in caliber of missions their teams were taking.

Shikamaru though, she frowned, for some reason these day's everything she did came around to proving him wrong. To her dismay he was being stubborn about it. According to Asuma-sensei though that was par for the course when dealing with Nara men. He'd mentioned something about Nara women and dodging frying pans when she'd asked him about the other half.

Her father laughed, bringing her out of her thoughts, "Then tell me what's the ordinary with you these days? I hardly see you except for lessons."

Ino flushed. It was true though that she was busy, lately. "Sorry, Father."

He squeezed her hand tighter, "There's nothing to apologize for - you're working hard, and I'm proud of you."

Ino rested her head against his shoulder briefly before looking up at him, "Did you want to hear about my training with Shizune-sensei?" She had told him before about it in vague generalities, preferring to spend most of her time with him working on their Clan techniques. Besides, the medical jutsu she was learning now weren't going to be the sum of her use. No way. Ino wasn't going to stand for that, no matter what Shikamaru thought she'd do better behind the scenes.

That got her a smile, "If you want to talk, then I'm willing to listen. Anything you want."

Ino started talking. Her hand slipped from his so that she could show with her hands better what she was explaining. She was walking him through the way that Shizune-sensei was showing her how to heal small wounds - hardly more than scrapes at this time - with nothing but her chakra and a fine understanding of what she was doing. Each layer of skin had to be repaired separately, which meant that you had to be highly careful not to miss a layer – else the wound would heal wrong.

By the time they reached the practise field Ino was walking a few steps in front of her father, facing him, so that she was walking backwards and talking about it with enthusiasm. She was so caught up in her recital of what she was learning that she very nearly crashed into the wooden fence.

Her father chuckled as she scowled and both of them leapt over the fence with ease. After that it was just a little ways further to the field that they used for training. Sometimes Ino wondered if Shikamaru had ever been here – she'd been avoiding this area mostly so that she could feel safer knowing that he wouldn't be able to see what she was practicing. Ino doubted that she'd be bothered while she was with her father. Clan secrets and all that.

When they reached the area, both of them fell to stretching. Ino made sure that she watched her father to make sure she was doing it right. Asuma-sensei had shown them a few different stretches but Ino found she preferred her family's way of doing things. Once that was done, her father settled into a ready stance across from her.

Slightly nervous – what if her father thought she wasn't any good at taijutsu despite all of her practicing? – Ino did the same.

"Straight taijutsu only, sweetheart." Her father said firmly, "No weapons and I don't want to see how quickly you can pull off a ninjutsu this time around. I want to see what we've got to work with alright?"

Ino nodded her head, taking a moment to put her glasses off to the side. She was working on a jutsu to help keep them where they were supposed to remain but at the moment she hadn't managed to work all of the kinks out of it. Her jutsu kept burning the hair it came into contact with. Ino had no wish to go around with half her hair burned off. It was bad enough that it was taking so long to grow back. "I'm ready."

"Good." Her father shifted his stance slightly, "Strike to kill, princess."

Ino's eyes narrowed at the slight. She knew that the only reason he'd said that was because there was no way in hell she'd be able to do that. Not against a Jounin – the only Genin she knew that might be able to take a Jounin on in a straight taijutsu battle was Lee-san from Tenten's team. This was her father's way of encouraging her.

She charged. Ordinarily she would have wanted to draw the enemy to her – but this wasn't a regular fight and she had to show off what she knew how to do. Less than two feet away from her father, Ino went low, both of her feet kicking out at his ankles as she used her momentum to get behind him.

A swift kick to the stomach sent her flying. Ino managed to get her feet back under her before she landed and without taking a chance to reconsider her actions flung herself at him again. This time he grabbed her trailing hand as he dodged a blow to the face and yanked her sharply to him. Ino twisted like an eel and used one foot to stomp on his instep and when his hands loosened she used her other foot to kick up dangerously close to his groin. He sent her crashing into a tree.

"Your mother," Her father said conversationally as she scrambled to her feet, "would be terribly unhappy with you if you continued that line of attack."

"Ha," Ino settled into a ready stance again, "Guess you'd better watch yourself."

What followed next was best summed up in one word: humiliating.

Every attack that she launched was easily repelled – with a few scathing words to match – and what few blows she managed to land didn't seem to affect him at all. When it was over Ino slumped to the ground and wondered how sore she'd be tomorrow. Gingerly touching her jaw, Ino winced.

If this was what it felt like to have her father go easy on her then she wasn't sure she ever wanted to fight him for real. Ino, with a sigh, managed to push herself into a seated position. Her father tossed her a canteen which she drank from greedily.

He settled down in front of her, legs crossed, and looking none the worse for wear. "Feeling pounded, princess?"

Ino glared at him, "I hate you."

Her father laughed and she scowled harder, "Don't look at me like that, all of that did serve to give me a good idea about where you are."

"I need loads of training don't I?" Ino was, she had to admit more than a little glad that she'd thought to reinforce all of her old taijutsu with more study. She shuddered to think of how she'd be feeling if she hadn't.

"Well," A smile crossed her father's face, "Yes, but you didn't do all that badly."

She snorted.

"Alright," her father admitted, "You did – but it's fixable. What's your schedule like?"

* * *

"Right," Asuma-sensei said in a defeated sort of voice, "That's enough for today. You lot go home. Shikamaru, I want to talk to you."

He watched Chouji's shoulders slump from the corner of his eye and winced away from the withering glare that Ino gave him. Shikamaru said nothing as Ino turned smartly on one heel, pink glasses firmly on top her head – had she made any progress on that jutsu he'd helped her with? – and without another word left for the day.

Stretching carefully, not that he really needed to as it was hardly past eight in the morning and they hadn't done much, Shikamaru wondered just how much longer this was going to go on.

He didn't know what her problem was. Didn't she see that he was trying to protect her? Asuma-sensei had given him the task of planning for the team and he was doing his best. Shikamaru knew though that his best was going to have to get better if Ino kept up this way. Why was the most infuriating kunoichi in Konoha on his team? It would have been so much easier if Ino were only a bit less spirited.

Chouji left, reluctantly, looking back over his shoulder.

"What did I tell you when I gave you command?" Asuma-sensei asked wearily.

Shikamaru scowled at the ground. "That I was to deal with any and all problems that arose unless a mission was misranked."

He _knew_ that. It was just that Ino was driving him up the wall and for some reason he couldn't make rational decisions about her. His and Chouji's teamwork had remained flawless, and he hadn't had any problems with Ino working with Chouji.

It was the two of them that couldn't get anything at all accomplished. They were dragging Chouji down with them though and Shikamaru didn't like that. This was their fight, if they'd been a little more grown up about it then it would have slid right past for now. Enough that they would be able to go on missions anyway.

Shikamaru had never thought that he'd get bored of just doing training exercises. Two weeks of them had proven him wrong in that disregard, but Asuma-sensei had been firm about it. No missions until they could complete an exercise together.

Somehow, Shikamaru didn't think that would be happening any time soon.

"That's right," Asuma-sensei said, "so why haven't you done so?"

This struck Shikamaru as unfair, "I'm doing my best - it's not my fault that Ino's - "

"While you are the commander of a team, anything that they do is your fault." His sensei said sternly, normally kind eyes hard, "It's written right down in the rules. You should know that. While Ino and Chouji are under your command it is _your_ responsibility to make sure that everything runs smoothly. Do you understand?"

Shikamaru could feel himself flushing, "Yes, sir." He said it stiffly, knowing that he was failing miserably to hide his irritation. It wasn't like he'd asked for the command - Ino would have been happier in the position that had once been hers, and he would still have been able to make his plans.

"Good. Then, _I'm_ ordering you to fix this. I don't care if the two of you can't be in the same room when you're not on active duty. When you are, I want the two of you to work as a team. Make it happen, Nara."

Shikamaru winced at the use of his family name. Asuma-sensei didn't do that unless he was really mad. "Yes, sir."

There wasn't much else that he could say to that. It was almost like he was tossing a coin, Shikamaru mused, as he was dismissed and left the training area feeling Asuma-sensei's eyes on the back of his head. He had been the one given responsibility of leading Team 10 so long as nothing went seriously wrong (what a troublesome thing it was turning out to be, even as he did his best) by Asuma-sensei. Now his sensei was telling him that he had to fix what was wrong.

Shikamaru had his pride.

He hadn't wanted to go and ask anyone if they had a different perspective on what he was doing. After all, he had Ino's loud complaints and Chouji's suggestions to take into account and Shikamaru had thought that that would be enough for him to make it work. It was proving though that it wasn't going to be the case.

Two weeks since they'd first reformed. They hadn't managed to work together on a single exercise that Asuma-sensei had set them. Ino kept messing up his patterns. Now, though, with Asuma-sensei's order, Shikamaru knew that he was going to have to get off his fence and actually do something about it.

As he saw it, there were two choices. He could go and try to talk to Ino - something that was almost guaranteed to fail, but then he'd be able to say to Asuma-sensei that he'd tried... or he could take in the order in the spirit that it was intended and go and talk to Yamanaka Inoichi.

Shikamaru really didn't want to go and talk to Ino's father. Yamanaka Inoichi had this way of looking at him that made him feel like he was being unbearably slow. That the man only took things seriously when they pertained to his wife or daughter didn't help.

He wasn't sure he wanted to learn what Ino had been saying about him to her father. Shikamaru knew too, from listening to his father, that Yamanaka Inoichi was where Ino had gotten her willfulness from.

The idea of facing a grownup male version of Ino to talk about his _daughter _made Shikamaru want to ditch the idea of ever doing something about the situation. Only the fact that Asuma-sensei had made it an order kept him from doing just that.

That Inoichi was a Jounin only made Shikamaru feel worse about the whole situation – if he offended the high strung man… Well, Inoichi could flatten him like a pancake. Shikamaru didn't kid himself that Inoichi wouldn't know how to combat the Shadow Jutsu of the Nara Clan. Shikaku, Shikamaru's father, had been on the same team as him after all.

It all made Shikamaru want to just wait the whole situation out – surely this fight would end soon and Ino would see that what he was doing only made sense.

Then he remembered the look of despair on Chouji's face. The resigned air that hung about Ino when she wasn't yelling at him, and the way that Asuma-sensei looked like he was watching everything fall apart.

With a sigh, Shikamaru made his decision. He'd go and talk to Yamanaka Inoichi...

Soon.

But first he'd see if his dad had any good advice to offer.

* * *

C&C, please! Also, if you spot any spelling or grammatical errors I'd love to hear from you! 


	7. Chapter 5: Revelations I

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 05 Revelations (Part I)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 5 of ? Unbeta'd. Sorry for taking so long, I'll try to do better about it! That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Chouji wondered when, exactly, it had fallen to him to be the only sane member of Team 10. Both Ino and Shikamaru did a good job at pretending but the moment you put them around each other everything became obvious.

He'd asked his dad for advice, explaining the situation in the vaguest possible terms - not wanting to betray any confidences - it had helped that his dad had been there for the fight at the party and wasn't completely in the dark. Chouji's younger brother, Choumaru, had suggested they lock them together in a room until they worked it out.

The fact that that was rapidly becoming the most viable sounding solution bothered Chouji. Both of them had firmly rebuffed his every attempt to talk to them about the situation, even while being friendly enough on all other topics. Chouji though wasn't ready to give up on them solving this by talking to each other.

Which was why, after another failed attempt for them to all manage to work together, Chouji didn't head off with Shikamaru. Instead he trailed after Ino, unsure of how to say what he wanted to – and have her keep talking to him at the same time.

He was glad that Ino had managed to be in a fairly good mood though – even if that mood had come about from an 'accident' in knocking Shikamaru to the ground. Chouji didn't think that anyone had believed her for an instant, but Shikamaru had told them to drop it and get back to work.

Thinking on what Sakura had said, and more importantly what she _hadn't_ said, he'd come to several conclusions about the whole mess. Chouji doubted that they were quite the same as Sakura's conclusions because they had different sides of the same story to work with and there was also the not insignificant fact that he knew Shikamaru far better than she did.

Chouji was well aware that compared to his teammates his thought processes were slower. He considered this to be an advantage though, because sometimes there were things that they missed. After talking to Sakura, who Chouji reminded himself, he had to track down to thank her for her help, he'd begun watching how Ino and Shikamaru managed to relate to each other and those around them.

Ino treated everyone the same as always – except for Shikamaru. That had been about what he'd expected. Ino could generally be counted on to keep her displeasure focused on one person.

Shikamaru though… it had been an interesting thing to watch. His friend was royally irritated with the whole argument – whether or not he had cause, Chouji didn't care. He was staying far out of that whole bit.

He'd noticed though, the way that Shikamaru had been treating her as the weaker party member and holding her back even during simple teamwork exercises. His friend didn't have any problems when Chouji worked with Ino.

When Neji had come up and asked her for a word though – Ino had said it was something to do with Hinata and Chouji had shrugged it off – Shikamaru had gotten cranky. Chouji wasn't sure what to think of that yet.

He should be grateful, Chouji supposed, that Shikamaru considered him 'safe' for Ino to hang around with. Otherwise things would be even uglier than they were now.

Ino stopped, on the roof top that they generally parted at – her house was in one direction, his in another – and put her hands on her hips. "What did you want to talk about?"

The hip thing, he knew, wasn't a good sign. She was already on the defensive about this conversation and Chouji didn't want that at all. Long experience told him that it was the worst way ever to try and explain things to her.

"I just wanted to know how you're doing." He said with a shrug, pleased to see that her stance softened slightly, "I mean, it's obvious you've been training. Guess I just wanted to know a bit more about what you're doing."

"If it's so obvious then why hasn't _he_ - " Ino shook her head, "Don't answer that. I don't care."

She did care though. Chouji thought that Ino probably cared about that more than she'd admit to – Ino was never very good when confronted with her emotions by other people. Though from what he understood from talking to his dad, Ino would have to be honest with herself.

"Self deception is dangerous when you dabble with the mind." His dad had said seriously, "The Yamanaka Clan might not let other people know exactly what they're thinking and feeling – but keep in mind that they _have_ to know their own feelings."

Chouji had promised his dad that he'd do his best to remember that. Thinking on it, Chouji could remember several times in the past when Ino had flown off the handle at someone making assumptions about her feelings.

"I'm doing fine." Ino said firmly, "A heavy load of training – Father's not going easy on me, you know? – and my own studies. What about you?"

Taking a long look at her and realizing that it would do neither of them any good if he broached the subject right this moment, Chouji let her drag out of him some details of his own training. Ino wasn't the only one with a father actively involved after all.

They talked for a good half an hour, stepping to the side when another shinobi darted across the roof they were on, before Ino took a look at the sun. "I've got to get going." She said with some reluctance, "Training and all that."

He let her go, with a wave and a promise to see her tomorrow at training. As Chouji headed towards his house though he wondered why she'd been heading _away_ from her place.

What was Ino up to?

* * *

Shikaku prided himself on knowing his son. As such, he was well aware of Shikamaru's powerful distaste of getting up even a minute before he had to – a thing which happened often in the busy Nara compound. The daily hustle and bustle of running a thriving business based on their deer coupled with the challenges of nearly half of the Clan being shinobi on active duty at any one time meant that sleeping in was a rare treat. Shikaku found all the fuss soothing. 

There was something to be said, after all, about being woken by the sounds of a good natured argument over something trivial instead of another call to battle. Shikaku figured it was the difference in the times they'd grown up in that gave him more tolerance for the routine noise of the Nara going about their business. Shikamaru hadn't had to grow up amidst a war the way he had.

Knowing his son though meant that Shikaku was more than a little surprised to find Shikamaru downstairs just before five and nursing a cup of coffee. Nodding his head in greeting, he went and poured himself a cup, popping a few slices of bread into the toaster, then sat across from his son. "Don't let your mother see you drinking that."

Shikamaru shook his head, looking annoyed at the reminder. "I know that."

Taking a sip of his own coffee, Shikaku concealed a smile. If you knew him, it was easy to wind his son up. "Just making sure." He said mildly, "What's got you up so early? Another training session with your team?"

Though how much _training_ was happening these days was a bit suspect. Shikaku knew he didn't have the full story about what was going on between his son and Inoichi's girl, and Inoichi – that bastard, he thought calmly – was being infuriatingly close-mouthed about it. The fight at the party had been more than a good hint though that there was something wrong with the team dynamics.

Wrinkling his nose Shikamaru rubbed the back of his head, "Training's not until eleven. I wanted to talk to you, actually."

Getting up just as the toast was done, Shikaku buttered the slices absently, as he thought about that. Even at thirteen, Shikamaru preferred to be as independent as possible – claiming that it was too 'troublesome' to go to his parents for every little thing – and Shikaku respected that for the most part. For his son to actively seek him out then meant that all other possible solutions had been exhausted.

"Hmm?" Shikaku deftly split the toast onto two plates and set one down in front of his son. Yoshino would kill him if he didn't at least try to make sure Shikamaru ate enough. Shikamaru always went off food when he was stressed out about something. "Anything in particular? Or is this just a check in?"

True to form, his son made a face at the toast, but with a sigh picked up a piece. "Asuma-sensei ordered me to fix what's going on between me and Ino."

Swallowing a bit of his own toast Shikaku considered what he knew of his son's sensei. Good man, a generalist, and rather laid back. Sarutobi Asuma hadn't struck him as the sort to hand out meaningless orders. Following that train of thought meant that it _was_ necessary, and that Shikamaru's sensei was getting sick of having to deal with it. "Just how badly is training going anyway?"

The slow flush that spread across Shikamaru's face was answer enough.

"Right," Shikaku said firmly, finishing off his toast and downing the rest of his coffee, "You finish eating and we'll talk about it while inspecting the deer."

Not even fifteen minutes later they were heading out the door. He'd left a quick note about where they were going and their probable topic of conversation for Yoshino on the fridge when Shikamaru hadn't been looking. He knew that his son didn't like the way Yoshino fussed over him – it was just her way though, to be strict – but Shikaku knew she'd worry if they left without a note. It was easier just to humor her when it came to small things like that.

They walked in comfortable silence until they'd left the Compound and headed out into the woods and fields that were just the very start of what the Nara Clan owned. "Now, what specifically _is_ i/ the problem between you and Ino?" She was an intelligent girl, from what he'd observed at the party, if a bit high strung.

"I don't know!" Shikamaru said, gesturing violently with his hands, "I mean, I thought she'd be mad about _that_ mission – and she didn't say anything. But then the next thing I know she's avoiding me, and when I do see her the first thing I say makes her mad at me. And she's _still_ mad about it – months after the fact."

Shikaku couldn't help the faint smile on his face. It was rare to see his son so animated about anything. "And the party? What about that?" He asked when it looked like Shikamaru wasn't going to say anything further.

"… that was mostly my fault." Shikamaru admitted as they walked through the woods slowly, "I was mad that she was ignoring me and said some things that I shouldn't have."

He didn't point out that Inoichi's girl had said a few things of her own that were beyond the pale. That wasn't the point here and Shikaku didn't want to get diverted from the subject – not while his son actually felt like talking about it. In that, Shikamaru was much like Yoshino. Neither of them were fond of talking about what was troubling them. Shikamaru would try and ignore the problem, until it either resolved itself or he had to face it, and Yoshino would take out her stress by coming down harder on everyone around her. Over the years though Shikaku had picked up ways of dealing with it. By taking his son out of the house – away from other possibly prying ears – Shikamaru would be more likely to elaborate on the problem.

Watching as his son rubbed his eyes wearily Shikaku was hit by sudden inspiration, "Have you been sleeping well?" He asked, looking the other way.

He could still feel Shikamaru's eyes on him. "No." His son said finally in a voice much subdued, "Not really."

Sighing, Shikaku took a seat on the soft earth of the woods, gesturing for his son to do the same. He probably should have found a way to talk about this earlier with Shikamaru… the first failed mission was always the hardest after all. Even as he thought that though, Shikaku knew that it wouldn't have done any good. Shikamaru did things in his own time. Had even as a baby.

"Nightmares?" Shikaku asked casually while fishing in his pockets for a bit of wood and a carving knife. It would give him something to occupy his hands while his mind worked. "About the mission?"

He saw, out of the corner of his eye, Shikamaru swallow and look away. His son, when he spoke, was mostly toneless, "It's always the same at first. I'm in this room and Ino's there, only older, and she tells me to go and look through a window. Then I'm back to leading the mission – only instead of Chouji, it's Ino with me instead. Then," Shikamaru shook his head, "it's different. Sometimes I have to split the team up, and she never comes back. Or, or she's with me and that freaky _bitch_ takes her out. Rips her apart, right in front of me, and I can't _do_ anything."

Standard nightmares then, Shikaku mused, not that he was going to say as such to Shikamaru. Tact wasn't always his strong point and he didn't believe in coddling his son, but he knew well enough how bad even simple nightmares could be. He'd been dealing with his own for years – and was grateful beyond words that Yoshino had resigned from active duty, though she was still on call if Konoha really needed her.

"The nightmares," Shikaku said after a few moments thought on how best to say it, "are something the Nara Clan's been dealing with since we were founded. Having a tendency towards higher level thinking and powerful imaginations isn't always a good thing. Ino-chan's the closest girl to you, right?"

Shikamaru made a face at that, but nodded. "What's that got to do with anything?"

"It's a commonly known fact that physically men are stronger than women – though statistically you're almost fifty percent more likely to survive capture if you're female so I suppose it works out – that, coupled with our conscious tendency to imagine the worst… well, most Nara men suffer from chronic nightmares. It's linked to the shadow jutsu somehow," Shikaku shrugged, "An ancestor did a fair bit of research on the topic. You can look it up if you'd like."

"_You_ have nightmares?" There was a faintly incredulous note in his son's voice.

"Almost every night." Shikaku admitted freely, "Your mother plays a starring role in them." He'd let Shikamaru draw his own conclusions from that, even as Shikaku made note to go and find a few books on dealing with the dreams that he'd found helpful back when they'd first started for him.

And on the other topic… "Have you talked to Inoichi?" Shikaku couldn't say that he knew Inoichi's little girl well enough to give well informed advice on the fight.

Shikamaru shrugged uneasily, "I was hoping you'd have a better suggestion. I just want to keep her safe."

"The best way to keep her safe," Shikaku said as they started to head back to the compound, "is to help her be the best she can be."

The frown on Shikamaru's face was more than enough to tell him that hadn't been the answer his son had been looking for.

* * *

Sakura checked her medical kit once more then strapped it to her back. Tsunade-shishou had told her that the kit would become largely unnecessary once she had been studying for another year or two, but that for now she was required to take it along on all missions. 

Going over her kunai pouches was next on her mental list of things to do - Sakura was glad that she kept all of her tools neatly organized. If she hadn't then getting ready for this mission would have been a pain. As it was... so far so good.

Packing a change of clothing, the mission scroll hadn't said how long she'd be gone, Sakura adjusted her hitae-ite and headed down the stairs. If she was lucky, she'd make it out before her mother realized just where she was going. Sakura didn't want another fight with her mother.

"Sakura?"

She cringed at her mother's voice, even as she paused on the bottom step and automatically calculated the number of seconds it would take her to get out the door. Sakura thought she could do it before her mother came in the hall – but if she did that then there'd really be a fight when she got home. Putting on a smile that felt fake, Sakura subdued her irritation at the realization that she could have gone out the window came to her. That would have spared her this. "Yes, Mom?"

Haruno Sayako came from the kitchen, her pink hair cropped short against her face and wearing a frilly apron with vines embroidered on it. In one hand she held an egg beater.

"Where are you going?"

When she'd been younger, Sakura had idolized her mother. Told her everything and had been secure in the knowledge that her mother really understood her even when no one else did.

Years later, she was learning that they might look a great deal alike but there were some things that Sakura was never going to be able to explain some things well enough and have her understand. And now that she was a Genin there were things she wasn't _allowed_ to explain to a civilian.

She envied Ino and her father at times.

"What's with the bag?" Her mother asked, "It's a bit early for a sleepover if you're heading over to Ino-chan's. Does she know you're coming this early?"

Sakura stiffened, her hands reaching up to straighten her hitae-ite. It would be so easy to let her think that a sleepover was all that was going on. For a moment she was tempted to take the easy way out. In the end though, honesty won. It was another thing that she'd learned from her mother.

"No, mom." Sakura said seriously, hating the way that her mother's eyes narrowed, "It's not a sleepover."

"Oh, Sakura," Her mother sighed and Sakura fought the urge to hunch her shoulder's against the disappointment in her voice, "You _know_ your father and I don't want you going on missions anymore."

"You didn't mind before – " Sakura started to retort, tired of this worn argument that only made all of them upset, but her mother cut her off.

"Of course not!" Sayako snapped, her voice beginning to rise, "When Konoha was the most powerful nation it was _safe_ for you to be a ninja. Can't you see now that you're likely to get hurt? I thought it would be alright, what with you apprenticing to Tsunade-sama, and that you'd be kept inside the walls but…"

Sakura watched in silence as tears welled up and spilled down her mother's cheeks. After weeks and months of dealing with the same argument she knew that it was no good trying to explain to her that being a ninja was _never_ safe.

There were always missions that claimed the lives of loyal shinobi, no matter that it was during times of peace or war. They'd been taught that in the Academy, one of the first things that the

sensei had started reinforcing through constant reminders and lessons.

After seven years of training and then almost another full year in active duty, Sakura _knew_ the basic dangers of her profession. It was in her blood now, her way of thinking. Her head, her heart. There was no way that she could stop being a shinobi now.

Not when she was just getting started.

The danger, the fear, the uncertainty and the knowledge that there would undoubtedly be times when she would barely make it home coupled with the fact that statistically unlikely to make it to her forties only added to the job.

Sakura hadn't been able to find the words to explain the _connections_ she'd formed. The bonds that came about after having been in life risking battle, the knowledge that she would have these bonds for life. How the good times managed to make up for the bad ones – at least so far – and that made it all worth it. She couldn't explain that she _liked_ her job.

Not and have her parents understand.

It was a problem, Sakura had been told repeatedly in the Academy, that frequently plagued the first generation students. She hadn't thought to think it through, apply it to herself. Now she had to.

Taking that last step down onto the main floor, Sakura tried to think of something to say that wouldn't only further upset her mother. Her mission was a fairly routine one – and she was with another team for the duration of it – but none of that was permitted to be told.

"I'm going, mom."

"We just want you safe, Sakura." Her mother's voice stopped her near the door, "Why can't you see that? If you'd just quit…"

"I'll do my best." She half promised, knowing that it would be foolish to promise anything more even on a routine C rank mission, "Quitting though?" Sakura smiled grimly to herself as she opened the door, adjusting her outfit one more time, before tossing a single question over her shoulder as she headed out.

"How can you quit something that's in your blood? I _can't_ stop, Mom."

Her mother had no answer that Sakura heard for that.

* * *

Inoichi had been expecting a visit since Shikaku had told him that it was likely. So when he looked up from his careful repainting of their storefront sign at the sound of bells ringing, he wasn't particularly surprised to see Shikaku's boy there looking severely uncomfortable. 

Idly wondering if it was their surroundings – flowers, he'd found, made some men uncomfortable – or the topic that Shikamaru had come to discuss Inoichi gestured for him to take a seat. They were in one of the greenhouses, Mui couldn't stand the smell of fresh pain in the store, and though Ino had been helping him out a bit earlier she'd headed off for her medical training.

"Stop lingering over there like a shadow and come sit down." Inoichi ordered blandly, not really in the mood to dance around the Nara sensibilities. Besides, more than once, he'd had to hold his daughter while she'd cried furious tears over what was happening with her team. Shikaku's boy had a bit of explaining to be doing from his point of view. Making him uncomfortable was a small revenge – and Inoichi had never pretended that he was above being petty when it came to his daughter. "Anything I can help you with?"

Watching Shikamaru flush under his steady gaze as the boy took a seat on another of the stools they kept stashed in the greenhouses, Inoichi wondered what it was exactly that Shikaku's boy wanted to get out of this conversation. It would be interesting, at least, and he'd been getting bored of repainting anyway. This would be at least a minor distraction. "What did you want to talk to me about?"

He'd never been good at beating around the bush, a tendency that Ino had inherited from him, and he watched Shikamaru wince at the bluntness of the question. There was no point, Inoichi figured, in pretending that the boy had come for anything else – if he'd been looking for Ino then the shop would have been a better bet.

"I wanted to ask you what was up with Ino." Shikamaru said at last.

"Shouldn't you be asking her that?" Inoichi asked him with a quirked brow, faintly amused that the boy had decided to be so blunt – wasn't much of a Nara thing that. So far, he was finding this entire conversation dreadfully amusing – had he been so awkward as a teenager? Inoichi couldn't remember. He hoped not.

"The last time I tried she attempted to nail me with a Katon Jutsu." Shikamaru said sourly, Inoichi was mildly surprised at that, as Ino didn't normally work that way, having a tendency to express herself more through her voice. "She never used to have a problem with me." The last bit was said almost plaintively.

"Hmm." Inoichi fussed with his paints as he thought about that. Ino hadn't told him all that much about her current situation, but he'd been able to glean a fair bit about it nonetheless. "Well… I went through something similar when I was about her age, and I'll tell you that Ino's facing a few of her own inner demons right now. Thing's aren't likely to settle down at all for the next while. Only thing that's likely to help right now is to give her a bit of space and let her be as active as possible while on missions…"

Those had been the major complaints that Ino had told him. The way that Shikamaru's lips tightened told him that the boy had no intentions of doing so. Inoichi inwardly sighed – why did the young have to make things so much more difficult for themselves?

"She'll just get hurt." Shikaku's boy objected furiously, "Chouji and I are supposed to look out for her."

"So that's how it is," Inoichi mused, "I'd wondered given how irate she's been lately." Taking a sip of water from the canteen he'd brought out with him, Inoichi watched as Shikamaru tried to figure out what he meant by that. He doubted that the boy would have much luck.

There were, however, a few things that Inoichi wanted to say. "Ino can take care of herself." Inoichi said firmly, "You want to protect her from getting hurt? Well, here's the cold truth – you _can't_. Ino wanted to be a ninja, and she sure as hell knows that risks that it entails. Treating her like a bit of breakable glass is just insulting."

"I don't accept that." Shikamaru said stiffly. "As her teammate I'm _supposed_ to look out for her."

"Look out for her, yes." Inoichi said in a gentler tone of voice, "But you can't protect an active kunoichi from all harm – you can't do that to any ninja. You have no right to shield Ino from her chosen profession - besides, she's been working hard since the exam and I have no doubts that she'll make an excellent Jounin in a few years time."

Watching his daughter work so hard had made him doubly proud of her. When she put her mind to it Ino was nigh unstoppable. Inoichi enjoyed watching the waves she was making as her improvements became more marked. He believed entirely in what he was saying, Ino already had the necessary strength of mind of be cold when she had to be – a trait absolutely essential for a Jounin. Bleeding hearts generally didn't last long at that level.

Shikamaru bit his lips and glowered. The boy didn't look like he enjoyed the thought of that one bit, not if the expression on his face was anything to go by. Inoichi wondered if Shikamaru had thought of it like that before. "She doesn't have to make Jounin – "

"And what if she wants to?" Inoichi asked him seriously, setting down his paintbrush to flex his hand and fixing his eyes on the Nara boy. "Have you even bothered to ask Ino what she wants? From the way she's been talking about you… you haven't been. You'll be at odds with her until you give her the room to grow into what she wants to be."

Watching the boy scowl at him again Inoichi sighed, "Look, why don't you go and talk with Ino – and I mean _really_ talk with her, don't let her walk off. Maybe that will help you figure things out."

Shikamaru looked thoughtful, though still unhappy, "If you say so."

"Go on," Inoichi told him, already heading back to his painting, "Have a good talk with her and see what she says. Just don't forget to listen to her."

* * *

Leaving Yamanaka Inoichi more disgruntled than he'd come – wasn't any adult going to actually be _helpful_ in this situation? The way Shikamaru saw it, he could have just skipped the parents and gone and found Ino anyway. Not that he was looking forward to it – he'd told Ino's father the truth after all. Ino had been getting quite vehement about not talking to him. Talking to the parents hadn't solved that problem at all. 

…though that wasn't really fair to his father. Shikamaru had gotten some good advice about the dreams from him, and the books that he'd found on his bed a few days ago seemed to be more of the same from what little he'd managed to find the time to read. It was a bit disquieting though to be told that he'd likely always have the dreams, and even worse to find out that his father had dreams of his own.

His father was an experienced Jounin after all, Shikamaru didn't want to think about the level of detail _his_ dreams came painted in. Not when Shikamaru was having a hard enough time coping with his. And what had his father been on about, that it was because Ino was the closest girl to him? Of course she was – she was his teammate after all, and it wasn't like he bothered to hang around other girls.

It took him longer than he'd thought it would to track Ino down. She wasn't at any of her usual hangouts, or at the training grounds. When Shikamaru finally found her trail and followed it to the hospital he wasn't pleased. What, had she hurt herself while training? She'd just gotten better from his crashing into her! Ino wasn't usually that accident prone.

Slipping inside place, and moving quickly so that he wouldn't be blocking anybody's way should someone come barreling past, Shikamaru casually leaned against the pale cool wall. Narrowing his eyes as he concentrated, Shikamaru sent his chakra out as light as a feather's touch to seek Ino's chakra pattern. It was something that his father had taught him a while ago, and he hadn't found much time to practise with it. There wasn't much need of it while they were stuck in Konoha after all.

Finding her, Shikamaru pulled his chakra back to his body and confidently headed up the hallways and stairs. She wasn't hurt – they didn't treat injuries in the area he'd found her. Rather it was one of the research and practice wings of the hospital, he'd been there a few times himself after that mission to talk to Hokage-sama.

Probably visiting Haruno, Shikamaru thought, wondering why that hadn't occurred to him before. By now it was common knowledge that Haruno had managed to be taken on as the Hokage's apprentice after all, and Ino was good friends with her. Shrugging at this oversight, which wasn't a big deal really, he continued on his way.

Being careful to make sure he wasn't caught – not hard when all he had to do was keep a close eye out for medical-nin, the civilian doctors and nurses were easy to avoid – he found himself in short order on the same floor as Ino. Stopping to do a quick check to make sure she hadn't left, it would be beyond irritating if he had to track her down all over again, he was glad to see she hadn't moved. After all, Haruno was no friend of _his_ and had made it quite clear that she sided with Ino in this whole mess.

Stepping to the side just in time to not be seen by… wasn't that the Hokage's other student? Shi-something or other? She walked past him with a body slung over her shoulder. Shikamaru decided that he didn't want to know. It was probably some research or something.

It was with dismay that he realized that she was heading for the same room he was. _Great_ he thought sourly, _yet another person to see Ino get mad at me. Again._ He had no idea how exactly he was supposed to follow Yamanaka Inoichi's advice about really talking to Ino, especially when he had an audience that he'd have to pry her away from first.

Maybe they'd kick her out of the room? Shikamaru was mildly hopeful at that – surely they wouldn't want to be working on medical jutsu with Ino watching every move they made. His hopes were dashed though when the woman he was trailing entered the room and locked the door behind her.

Giving the idea of getting to Ino alone up as a lost cause Shikamaru broke from his cover and headed for the door. It was best to get it over with quickly then. His hand paused, mere centimeters from the door at the sound of Ino's voice. Huh, the room wasn't sound-proofed then.

"That's one of the dummies you told me about last week, Shizune-sensei?" Ino's voice, while polite, had an excited lilt to it. He could imagine her staring at the body he'd seen with eyes that gleamed.

For his part Shikamaru's brain had stopped on the word 'sensei'. What was Ino on about? Asuma-sensei was their teacher… he stopped and listened to what the woman, Shizune, said in reply.

"That's right, Ino-kun. Tsunade-sama was pleased to hear that you'd progressed so far – she'll probably be coming to one of our sessions in the next few weeks to see for herself." There was a pause and Shikamaru could hear some rustling, then Shizune continued, "I think she wanted to come today, but a matter came up with a few of the older Genin teams that she couldn't foist off onto anyone else."

As Ino laughed at that, he thought she also sounded a bit relieved as well. Shikamaru was busy wondering just how long she'd been coming here and learning… medical jutsu? The idea of Ino being a medical-nin was laughable really – not her thing at all…and yet, he had to go from the facts.

Did Yamanaka Inoichi know? Shikamaru found it hard to accept that _he'd_ let the sole heir to their family techniques just walk away from their specialty. It wasn't like the Nara Clan – where they had many people to train – the Yamanaka Clan had always been small and the last thirty years, a great deal of it war stricken, had only made the situation worse.

"You're going to try today to heal several cuts, all without stopping." Shizune was saying clearly, "As this is your first 'marathon' session, I want you to take it slowly and remember to keep the flow of chakra steady. You know what happens if you don't."

"Yes, Shizune-sensei."

"You're eager, good. First inflict several surface wounds – hardly more than scrapes, Ino-kun. Going too deep is beyond what you'd be able to handle right now." There was a long pause and then, "Yes, just like that one, make seven or eight more of them in total."

As his listened to Ino's other sensei talk her through the exercise he couldn't help but to think – and when had this all happened? Shikamaru didn't know much about healing, beyond the very basic first aid they taught at the Academy, but all the same he was pretty sure that healing even minor wounds was something that wasn't covered in medical training without a through grounding in anatomy first. Too dangerous otherwise.

Did Asuma-sensei know? His eyes narrowed at the door, had Ino even been planning on telling _him_ what she was doing with her time? This was something that he needed to know when setting up battle plans… their fight notwithstanding. How was he supposed to be able to make plans when she was keeping information from him?

"Damn it, Ino." He grumbled, knowing that she wouldn't be able to hear him, "You're not normally this stupid. Troublesome woman."

Still he stayed, hoping to hear something – anything – that would give him a better idea of what he was working with. Medical nin were tricky to place at the best of times with the situations on the field changed so quickly. When Ino and her sensei started talking about the differences between two different branches of medicine, Shikamaru left.

He needed to get to a library and see what he was working with. Post-haste.

* * *

"That's good, Ino-kun. Keep the flow of chakra to your hands steady - any irregularity in the flow can have lasting marks on the quality of the healing." 

Ino nodded absently, most of her attention caught up in healing the 'person' in front of her. Shizune-sensei had qualified her work, just the week before, as good enough to start practicing on the dummies that Hokage-sama had created. Formed from chakra to mimic the body of a human down to the fine details they were invaluable for practise.

At the start of the lesson Shizune-sensei had had her inflict several injuries on the placid body, surface cuts only and none of them were to be deeper than an inch, and then she had to heal them all. The most disturbing part of the dummy, in Ino's opinion, was the fact that even while bleeding it kept the same blank expression. People didn't do that.

She was on the last wound now and Ino could feel exhaustion sapping at her concentration. Narrowing her eyes, Ino focused on her hands and the flesh that was slowly knitting back together under them.

When she was done, panting from exertion and feeling like she'd been put through the wringer, Ino leaned against the table the dummy was on and closed her eyes. The sounds of Shizune-sensei moving to check her work was comforting as she tried to catch her breath back.

It was nice to know that if she'd made a mistake there was someone to catch it almost immediately. The fact that the dummy wasn't a real person wasn't the point, if Ino started getting sloppy now then she'd never be able to manage on another shinobi in the heat of battle.

"Not bad at all, Ino-kun." Shizune-sensei said at last, green chakra lighting up her hands as Ino looked up at her sensei, "You missed a layer in this wound here, and one here." She traced her hands along the line of where the cuts had been. One on the upper chest and another on the side. "Still, for your first attempt at a 'marathon' session, very nice work."

Ino flushed, both with pride and irritation that she'd not managed to do it perfectly – she'd tried so hard to focus on the healing. "It's another one of those practise makes perfect things isn't it?"

Shizune-sensei laughed softly, "Everything in medicine is practise makes perfect, Ino-kun. Don't be discouraged."

"Yes, Shizune-sensei." Ino bowed her head, unsurprised that her teacher had read her so well. It was almost inevitable after working for so many hours together in the last few months.

"Go sit down." Shizune-sensei ordered, even as she began to clean up the body and ready it for storage. "I can tell you're about to fall over."

Grateful for the chance, the table hadn't been the best thing to lean on while it was still covered with blood, Ino stumbled over to the nearest chair and slumped down in it. One day, she promised herself, one day she'd not get so exhausted over every little thing.

The only thing though that would improve that was practise. Ino shrugged her shoulders lightly, knowing that she wasn't going to stop it – not when the results of her training meant that she'd increased her chakra capacity quite nicely already from what it had been before.

Even her father had commented on it when they'd been practicing Hypnosis no Jutsu a week ago during a breather. He'd been pleased and had mentioned something about another jutsu for her to learn. Of course, then he'd been called out on a mission, and she hadn't seen him for a few days. Ino had heard him get in late last night though, so she had no doubts that he'd be resuming training soon enough. She'd been guiltily glad that he had been busy though, her work load was beginning to get to her and coupled with the training exercises that Asuma-sensei had them attempting (exercises in frustration really) she was starting to feel wrung out.

There was no time for her to take a break though, not when Ino wanted to make sure that next time she'd be strong enough to come along on a mission. Ino guessed that with Shikamaru a Chuunin that they'd be assigned harder missions than they'd done before his promotion. Once they managed to start taking missions again that was.

"How about we go over your reading from last night on the varied reactions to chakra healing versus natural healing?" Shizune-sensei said in a way that wasn't really a question at all. "Ask me any questions you had and I'll do my best to answer them. Then I'll explain how you missed two layers even while keeping your chakra steady."

Ino tugged a folded piece of paper out from under her arm bandages. She'd taken to writing down her questions once realizing that there were too many of them for her to remember after having been healing. The chakra drain always made her a feel a bit stupid and writing her questions down made it so she wouldn't forget them.

And she did want to know the answers to her thoughts. The reading had been interesting enough to almost make her miss supper – her mother though had dragged her down and given her an impromptu lecture on how proper nutrition was important at her age. Ino hadn't been aware of how much _history_ there was concerning the two types of medicine. The limitations of each one and their strong points had been fascinating.

She'd have to talk about it with Sakura when she got a chance. But not until she'd checked with her sensei to see if Sakura had covered the topic yet, already Ino had realized that their training was proceeding at an entirely different rate. Sakura was learning about common and not so common ailments, and mostly seemed more concerned at the moment with learning how to make certain salves and unguents.

Handing over the paper to Shizune-sensei, to her teacher could connect her answers and make sure that she didn't cover the same thing more than once, Ino sat up straighter as they settled down to work.

Half an hour later Shizune cocked her head at the door for a moment before saying, "I thought he'd never leave."

"Who?" Ino asked curiously – she hadn't noticed anyone outside the door, but then her control wasn't fine enough to tell chakra signatures apart unless she was in a quieter place. Or if the signature was forceful, Hokage-sama's was one that Ino didn't think she'd ever have trouble locating.

"We've got to work on fine tuning your control some more I see," Shizune-sensei softened the criticism with a smile, "It was your teammate – the Nara one. He was there for nearly an hour."

"_Shikamaru_!" Ino squeaked, horrified at the thought even as her heart sank. Now that he knew Ino doubted that he'd ever let her take on a more proactive role in the team.

No matter that she was still the fastest of the bunch, had been even before the Exam, and after months more of training had only gotten faster. Ino doubted that he'd think of it that way, not if their current training flops were anything to go by. She wanted to go on missions, not watch other people go ahead into danger.

"Looks like you'll have to talk to him then." Her sensei said making Ino wince at the tone of voice Shizune-sensei used. Shizune-sensei never had really been pleased with the idea of keeping her training a secret from her team.

"Yeah," Ino said miserably, crossing her arms over her chest and staring at her lap, "Looks like."

* * *

Ino frowned at Shikamaru's back as Asuma-sensei finished explaining what they had to do to pass this teamwork exercise. Shikamaru hadn't said anything to her about the medical training – and she knew that he'd been there. Shizune-sensei wouldn't lie about something like that. 

She'd been up half the night fretting about it, Shizune-sensei had ended up sending her home early the night before because Ino hadn't been able to regain her focus once she'd been told that he knew. Flushing slightly at that, she really did have to work more on her emotional control, Ino wondered what she was supposed to do. Knowing that Shizune-sensei would want her to talk to him about it, Ino grimaced. Talking to Shikamaru about her training was likely to be an exercise in frustration, but his ignoring her was almost as bad. Didn't he have _anything_ to say about it?

"Come on, Ino." Chouji tugged her sleeve, sounding slightly impatient, "We're supposed to be working on the exercise."

Narrowing her eyes at the stream, and the fluttering ribbon on the other half that was their objective, Ino let Chouji drag her over to where Shikamaru was standing. He turned as she approached and Ino stiffened at the darkly speculative look in his eyes. What on earth was he thinking about?

"Right," Chouji said firmly, frowning at the both of them when it became obvious that Shikamaru wasn't going to take command the way he was supposed to. Ino ripped her gaze away from Shikamaru and focused on Chouji, "Asuma-sensei wants us to cross the river _together_ without using chakra walking, swimming, or jumping across. Any ideas?" It wasn't that wide of a river after all, and all three of them could leap across it without breaking a sweat.

Both of them looked at Shikamaru.

He sighed and rubbed his head, "Don't do that." Shikamaru muttered, "It's really creepy when you both do the same thing."

"Are you feeling alright?" Chouji asked with a frown, "You don't look that great."

Shikamaru's lips twisted slightly, not quite a smile, "Thanks Chouji. I'm fine, just didn't get enough sleep."

Ino frowned even as Chouji berated Shikamaru. It was a rare thing when _Shikamaru_ didn't get enough rest – some days all he seemed to do was lay about and stare at the clouds. Maybe he really was sick? "If you're not feeling well you should go home." Ino told him sharply.

"I'm _fine_." He snapped back, "Just because you – " Shikamaru shook his head, "Let's just get this over with. What should we do?"

Openly glowering at him – he'd almost spilled everything in front of Chouji! – Ino put her hands on her hips and said the first thing that came to her mind, "Asuma-sensei never said we can't throw each other across."

Chouji looked at the river, thoughtful, "That would work for you, Ino – Shikamaru too – but how would we get all three of us across that way? I can't throw myself and neither of you have the strength."

Examining the idea in greater detail, now that she was actually paying attention to what they were supposed to be doing, Ino was quickly warming to it. The fact that Asuma-sensei was watching them with despair from where the timer sat had only a little to do with it. "Can you," she asked Shikamaru, ignoring the way his eyes followed her hands, "_lift_ solid objects?"

He looked startled at the idea, "I've never tried." Shikamaru said after a few moments, "Even if I could, it's unlikely that I'd even be able to lift _you_ across the water. I don't have that much chakra, you know."

Ino bit her lip. There was a way that she might be able to take care of that – Shizune-sensei had taught her how to transfer chakra during medical surgeries and as long as she was careful about regulating the flow… Ino didn't see why it wouldn't work. It would just take a bit of tricky timing. Shizune-sensei would kill her if she sent Shikamaru into Chakra Shock.

While she'd thought the boys had gone on talking about the logistics of it. Ino stomped her foot to get their attention. "What if you suddenly had more chakra?" The look on her face defied him to ask how she'd be able to do that.

"You offering yours?" He asked drawlingly, "Sure you can handle that?"

Ino bristled and Chouji stepped between the two of them.

It was another half an hour of muttered arguments and Chouji's careful negotiating before they were able to put the plan into action. That they didn't know if it would work or not, Ino was past caring. She'd do her part. They'd have to do theirs. All of them were getting sick of doing nothing but pointless exercises like this, but Asuma-sensei had been firm about it.

Heading back thirty paces away from the river, Shikamaru trailing her, Ino did a few light stretches and resolutely didn't look in his direction. Chouji was doing a few stretches of his own before he assumed position and let his right hand drop.

She bolted.

Chouji grabbed her arm less than two strides away from the river, and using her own momentum as well as his strength flung her across. Ino spun, in midair and landed in a half crouch on the other side. She smirked at the ribbon even as Shikamaru began his run.

Soon he was right beside her, looking dubious and tugging off his Chuunin vest and mesh shirt underneath. "You're certain you know what you're doing?" Shikamaru asked even as he brought his hands flashing through the seals to activate his shadow.

Ino cuffed him over the top of his head, before pulling her hands back and concentrating on drawing up the chakra she'd need. "I wouldn't have offered otherwise, moron."

He snorted, "Another thing you learned from _Shizune-sensei_?"

"Shut up and start." Ino growled, having no patience for this conversation in the middle of an exercise. If he wanted to talk about it later, fine. Fine, but she wasn't going to mess up now.

To her surprise, he did. Watching carefully as his shadow inched across the river, Ino held her hands over his back but didn't start feeding him chakra yet. Her hands glowed faintly green in the bright daylight. Shikamaru's shadow carefully wrapped itself around Chouji's torso.

Sweat was starting to bead along Shikamaru's forehead as the shadow slowly, ever so slowly, left the ground taking Chouji with it. "Now," he panted when Chouji was about a foot in the air, "I can't hold this much longer."

Ino didn't need further urging. Pressing her hands to his bare back – Ino didn't have the skill to do it through clothing yet – she narrowed her focus until all of it was on feeding Shikamaru just enough chakra to move Chouji while making sure she didn't let any leak over that his body couldn't handle.

She was dimly aware that they were making progress even as sweat trembled down her face and shirt. But for this, she had to place her faith in her teammates – there was no way she'd have been able to keep an eye out on Chouji as well. Her knees started to tremble from the stress of it, chakra transfer was exhausting, and Ino narrowed her focus further.

There was no way she was going to be the one to mess this up.

When the shadow jutsu went slack it came almost as a physical blow to her, Ino immediately pulling her hands away and letting the chakra gathered in them dissipate. Catching sight of Chouji on their side of the shore, with the ribbon in hand and beaming, she smiled. They'd done it! Then, even as Shikamaru turned around to look at her, Ino sank to the ground. Her arms were trembling violently from the strain and she bowed her head and concentrated on just breathing. She was so _tired_.

A canteen was shoved under her nose. Ino blinked at it wearily, then up at Shikamaru.

"Drink it," he muttered pressing the canteen into her hands, "you look like you need it."

"Congratulations." Asuma-sensei said appearing on their side of the shore in a burst of white smoke, with a cigarette in one hand, "You three pass – and it took you long enough."

Ino snorted with laughter even as Shikamaru sank to the ground beside her, Chouji beaming at the rest of them. Maybe, she thought wearily, things were looking up. As Asuma-sensei turned to quiz Chouji about his role in the exercise Ino handed the canteen back to Shikamaru.

He took it and frowned at her, "We need to talk."

_Rats_, Ino thought, her pleasure at their passing fading at the prospect of an ugly confrontation, _Why couldn't he just forget about it?_

* * *

The gates of Konohagakure were a welcome sight. After a few weeks of nothing but quick icy baths in springs and rivers Yuuhi Kurenai was looking forward to a long, hot bath and some sake to wash it down. For all that they were returning home dusty and tired, she was glad that their patrol had gone so well. A quick check behind her confirmed that, although their expressions had brightened, her Genin hadn't ceased their careful watch on the countryside. 

_Take that, Asuma_. She thought cheerfully, as Hinata moved ahead of her to do a quick scan with her Byakugan. After a few moments, Hinata fell back with a shake of her head. Kurenai nodded her understanding. All clear, then. Her team had, even from the very beginning, been more inclined to take her seriously and follow her orders religiously though. Kurenai wondered what had happened with Asuma's team while they'd been gone – had they managed to work out their differences? Which reminded her…

"Once we get home," she said watching as Kiba's attention focused on her, "Sarutobi-sensei and his Team 10 have requested a general spar and joint training session."

"While our general purpose is similar, your colleague must know that his team will have to operate under a significant disadvantage." Shino observed with a small shake of his head, "Chouji lost a great deal of time training, and the Yamanaka girl is severely under-skilled in comparison. Even Shikamaru's skill with planning will be stressed under such a situation."

"A – ano," Hinata looked mildly distressed, "Ino-san's been working really hard lately."

"I understand you are friends," Shino said, a faint crease appearing on his forehead, "but facts must be acknowledged."

"It's true that the three of you are better suited for straight combat than Team 10," Kurenai allowed with a faint smile, "I encourage you all to take advantage of that."

The grin Kiba gave her was more than a little feral and his words matched, "This is going to be _fun_."

* * *

C&C, please! Also, if you spot any spelling or grammatical errors I'd love to hear from you! 


	8. Chapter 5: Revelations II

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 05 Revelations (Part II)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 5 of ? Unbeta'd. Took me long enough, eh? But the chapter is longer than normal so I figure that it works out. That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Ino approached the clearing that she was to meet with the rest of her team for a mission – their first mission in so long! – with more than a little trepidation. She'd managed to avoid Shikamaru's 'talk' for the last two days by dint of pleading training with Shizune-sensei and then rushing off before he had more than a moment to respond.

She doubted that she'd be three times lucky.

A quick glance around the sunny area proved that she was the first to arrive. With a faint smile at having beaten Asuma-sensei (who was usually on the scene before any of them) Ino quickly fell into her morning stretches. The routine helped to steady her mind even as the early morning light grew stronger. She still hadn't figured out what to say to Shikamaru. There wasn't much that she wanted to say, even though Ino knew that he'd want her to talk a fair bit. Shaking her head, there was no point in dwelling on it right now, Ino turned back to her exercises with a renewed will.

Chouji arrived as she was finishing up. Tossing him a quick smile, Ino straightened up and dusted off her hands. The bandages on them were no longer a strange sensation, months of wearing them had let her get used to them – to the point where she felt almost naked without them.

"Morning, Ino." Chouji said as he began his own routine. "Asuma-sensei not here yet?"

Fiddling with her hair (it was in two pigtails, one on either side of her head, her hair being at that awkward state where putting it up was more bother than it was worth) and making sure that her glasses were secure, it took Ino a moment to answer. "No," she frowned as looked around the clearing, "he hasn't been around at all. It's not like him."

"What's not like him?" Shikamaru asked as he entered the clearing with a quick hello for Chouji and a thoughtful look for her.

Ino sniffed at the look and when his gaze hardened she pointedly turned away and pretended to fiddle with her sandals. "It's not like Asuma-sensei to be late. _You're_ here before he is." This was said as scathingly as possible even though Shikamaru had managed to show up on time.

Chouji sighed.

---

Asuma wasn't really playing hooky.

He'd spent the night at Kurenai's – she refused to stay over at his place unless he did some cleaning first – and had simply decided that he'd show up at the training ground with Kurenai and her Genin.

The first sign that it might not have been the best idea was finding Chouji leaning against a tree on the outskirts of the training ground. Chouji's face brightened upon noticing them. "Asuma-sensei!"

"Hey," he lifted one hand in response, "what are you doing out here? And where are Shikamaru and Ino?"

Chouji made a face and pointed behind past the tree he was leaning on, "They're back there, attempting to kill each other."

Kiba snickered and there was a small titter from one of the other two. Asuma sighed. He had hoped that they would have gotten better since passing an exercise, but while they had proven that they could work together while actually _on_ task having them around each other was still risky business.

"Let's go talk to them then." He said, leading the way as Chouji fell into pace beside Kiba and had a short whispered conversation.

To his surprise when they entered the clearing, Ino and Shikamaru weren't arguing any more. Asuma wouldn't have said that they were getting _along_, as they were on opposite ends of the area with their backs turned to each other. Good enough, he supposed. Reaching the center of the clearing Team 8 spread out behind him while Kurenai stepped up on level with him. Ino and Shikamaru reached him at almost the same time and he wasn't surprised by the glares they gave each other.

"I thought we were doing a mission?" Ino asked him, frowning slightly at Team 8.

"Now, now," he said before she could get irritated, "we'll do a mission tomorrow – but I promised Yuuhi-sensei that we could hold a session of combined training a while back and this is the first time we've managed to coordinate schedules."

---

This was another match up that really had the odds stacked against them, Shikamaru thought, casually glancing at Team 8 as Asuma-sensei talked to Yuuhi-sensei. They hadn't been told yet what they were doing, but Asuma-sensei had said something about combined training and that meant either an all out spar or a lecture.

The area they were in suggested a spar.

Transferring his gaze from Team 8, Shikamaru let his eyes rest on Ino, who was talking to Chouji, and frowned. Team 10 hadn't been created around the idea of an all out battle - neither had Team 8 for that matter - but the fact remained that thanks to their bloodline talents Team 8 was far better prepared.

He'd have to watch out for Ino. Kiba looked like he could take her out in one solid hit, Hinata's demeanor notwithstanding she was no pushover, and he simply didn't know enough about Shino to classify his threat level. Other than it was probably high.

"The only restrictions for this match are: you are to remain within the clearing at all times, we want to _see_ what you can do, and absolutely no soldier pills. You'll never improve if you rely on drugs to boost your power." Yuuhi-sensei said firmly once Asuma-sensei had finished talking.

"You've got five minutes to come up with a game plan." Asuma said, pulling out a timer and setting it, "Starting… now!"

Immediately Shikamaru put as much distance between his team and Yuuhi-sensei's team, Ino and Chouji following after him. On the other side of the clearing Team 8 had done the same.

Turning his back to them, Asuma-sensei was a stickler for following the rules and he doubted that the other team would try anything before the timer went off that would incur his wrath. Shikamaru looked at Ino, who was fiddling with her glasses, then to Chouji, who was flexing his hands and settled down to think of a plan that would give them a chance at winning.

"Alright," he said after a minute had passed, "this is what we're going to do…"

---

"The most logical approach is to go after Shikamaru first." Shino said firmly, "Chouji is their muscle and Yamanaka's most developed skills are rendered useless by the requirement of remaining out in the open. Therefore the largest threat is whatever plan Shikamaru will come up with."

This time Hinata remained silent on the training that Ino-san had been doing. She had tried several times before the spar to speak of it, but Shino remained unconvinced. Kiba was even worse, in his way, talking loudly about how there was no way that a girl so obsessed with her appearance would be any challenge at all. She resolved to keep an eye out on the other kunoichi no matter what the plan was decided as.

Other than that, Shino's statements were likely correct. Nara-san didn't look like he was much of a hand-to-hand fighter and no matter how much Ino-san trained she would never match the sheer strength of her teammate, Chouji. Casting an eye over at the other team, Hinata was mildly surprised to see that they were arguing heatedly.

"Kiba will lead the assault." Hinata snapped back to attention, as Shino outlined the start of the fight and the roles that they would play. "I'll be his support and my kikai bugs can drain their chakra. Hinata hang back a bit and get an idea of what they're planning."

She nodded, using her Byakugan would give them a valuable advantage in predicting jutsu before they were used. Team 8 spread out into their standard arrowhead formation, Kiba in front, Shino just off to one side and Hinata on the other side. Bringing her hands together, Hinata waited for the signal to start.

It wasn't a long wait. Sarutobi-sensei took a long drag on his cigarette and said, "And, _start_!"

---

Ino crouched behind Shikamaru, her glasses perched firmly on her nose and strapped securely around the back of her head, her hands flew through the seals for Hypnosis no Jutsu. It would be the first chance she'd found to use it in a combat situation. Murmuring the name of the jutsu quietly enough that Shikamaru didn't even twitch she activated it.

After over a month of training on the jutsu the pink circles, that would give the whole game away if spotted, were hidden by the glasses. Barely. It was progress though, and she was interested to see what would happen. Besides, it would give her something to do until Shikamaru managed to snare one of Team 8 in his shadow. Then things would get fun.

It rankled a bit that she was the one at the back of their formation but Ino had to admit that this plan was one that Shikamaru might have created even back before the Chuunin Exam had changed everything.

Smiling at Chouji, he'd backed her up saying that she could do this, Ino was careful to avoid looking at his eyes. She didn't want to handicap her own team before the fight even started. Not when Chouji was serving as their first line of combat. Baika no Jutsu coupled with Nikudan no Jutsu would make a good opening move - and distract them from what Shikamaru would be doing.

Asuma-sensei pulled his cigarette out of his mouth and said, ""And, _start_!"

Ino watched as across the field Hinata's hands did the seals of her blood limit. She'd thought that it would be one of the first things that Team 8 did and Ino was pleased with being proven right.

Her grin got wider when Hinata, with the Byakugan on, went deathly white, stumbled, and fell on her knees. Ino knew how that felt - her father had used it several times on her during training. It wasn't pleasant.

Hypnosis no Jutsu was a success.

"Chouji, go!" Shikamaru snapped as Team 8's formation faltered as Kiba and Shino turned to look at Hinata.

---

His plan was falling down around his ears and they hadn't even had the chance to enact the first move. Shino was irritated about that and about his failure to predict that they would do something like that.

Hinata was on her knees and had deactivated her Byakugan. Her rapid breathing and the beads of perspiration on her face told that something was still wrong. She covered her eyes with both hands.

"What's wrong?" Kiba asked, concern clear in his voice and manner. "Are you feeling sick?"

She shook her head as Shino took a few steps closer to her. "A jutsu then." It hadn't happened until after Sarutobi-sensei had said they could start, so that tallied with it. "Do you know who did this to you?"

Hinata took a shaky breath, "Ino-san." Her voice was very clear on that point, "I was fine looking at the others."

Being proven wrong was never a joy. Shino throttled his regret that he hadn't paid more attention when Hinata had been trying to explain that Yamanaka had been training. He would apologize later to Hinata.

"Change of plan," he said quietly, "Kiba, take out the girl." She had, with one move, made herself the dark horse of the fight. They hadn't any idea of what other tricks she had up her sleeve.

It was logical to remove her first.

"You've got it!"

"Baika no Jutsu! Nikudan no Jutsu!" While they'd been talking Team 10 hadn't been idle. Chouji, now many times his size, was bearing down on them. Kiba flung himself to one side while Shino pulled Hinata up and dodged to the other.

He hadn't planned on Chouji managing to _turn_ and follow him though. His kikai bugs crept down his legs and into the long grass. If nothing else they'd be able to slow Chouji down until his lack of chakra put him out of commission.

It was sloppy though and Shino despised that.

---

Shino was fast for all that he was burdened with Hinata. Chouji was navigating mostly on vibrations through the ground - it was a trick that his father had taught him while he'd been recuperating in the hospital - and he could tell that Shino was starting to get tired. No matter how strong he was, carrying around a teammate was no easy task, and he'd been doing it now for a few minutes.

Chouji was aware that more than one of Shino's bugs had managed to crawl on to him and had started to drain off his chakra. He wouldn't be able to hold up the jutsu's for much longer but that was alright.

He only had to hit Shino once.

There was a pause in front of him, longer than normal, and then Chouji knew that Hinata had re-entered the fight because Shino's steps were suddenly a great deal lighter. _Excellent_. He hadn't really wanted to hit Hinata when she wasn't feeling well.

Not when he wasn't sure what the hell Ino had done to her in the first place. He'd have to see if he could get her to talk about it after - but Chouji had the sneaking suspicion that it was covered under the Clan Confidential and that she wouldn't say much.

Using the last bit of his chakra, Chouji converted it into extra speed for his rolling form. The surprise of it was enough for him to catch Shino off guard and the smaller boy went flying. Chouji came out of the Jutsu dead tired. Sagging to the ground he closed his eyes and concentrated on breathing. If he was lucky he'd manage to regain enough chakra, Yuuhi-sensei's restriction on soldier pills was a nuisance, to join the fight again.

A slim pair of hands and Hinata's determined face put an end to that hope and Chouji spiraled into unconsciousness as she closed his tenketsu points.

---

It had been stupid, he saw that now, to attack Shikamaru head on in an attempt to get past him. Kiba had seen first hand just how capable the other Genin was at thinking his way out of a bad situation so he couldn't even blame this on anyone but himself.

But goddamn, Kagemane no Jutsu was the most _annoying_ jutsu ever.

Shikamaru rubbed the back of his neck and Kiba helplessly copied him. He fought the jutsu's hold every inch of the way but it made no difference whatsoever. Kiba grit his teeth, whatever they decided to do he'd just have to live with it until he could break free.

"Anytime, Ino."

The blonde standing safely behind Shikamaru - and wasn't that just like a girl? - grinned wickedly at him. "Did you forget what I can do?" She asked him sweetly.

Oh. Oh, no way in _hell_.

Kiba renewed his struggles against the shadow jutsu. There was absolutely no way he was going to be made to attack Hinata, who was at least standing on her own over the fallen form of Chouji, or Shino, who was picking himself up off the ground and looking wobbly on his feet. Just no. It wasn't right.

"Shintenshin no Jutsu!"

There was a pause and for a moment Kiba thought that she'd missed. Then he was slammed into by an invisible force and there was a brief second of utter disorientation before he found himself locked into a small corner of his mind.

Shikamaru had let the Kagemane drop and managed to catch his teammate as her body slumped to the ground. With a gentleness that Kiba thought was surprising, Shikamaru lay her down carefully, then stepped over her assuming a guard position.

The girl cracked his knuckles and laughed, "Lets have some fun, shall we?"

---

Shikamaru shifted slightly over Ino's prone body and watched the rest of the fight with narrowed eyes. It was taking place too far away for his shadow to reach and he didn't dare leave Ino's body unattended.

She wasn't doing too badly, he supposed. Kiba's body was obviously different from what she was used to but the surprise afforded by attacking while contained within the body of their teammate gave her an edge.

Shino stumbled back as 'Ino' managed to land a solid blow to his chest. The smaller boy - at least compared to Kiba's body - came up with kikai bugs pouring out of his sleeves and 'Ino' was forced to put some distance between those dangerous creatures and Kiba's body. Chouji was still out of it and for a moment Shikamaru thought about moving over to where he lay.

_Wait a second,_ he thought scanning the clearing again, _Where's the Hyuuga?_

"A good shinobi is always aware of their surroundings, Nara-san." A soft voice said from behind him. Her fingers pressed gently to the base of his skull and the ground came rushing up at him as he fell like a puppet whose strings had been cut.

---

Ino saw Shikamaru fall out of the corner of her eye – what had he been doing that Hinata had managed to sneak up behind him? - and knowing that her body was left unprotected, at the mercies of the 'enemy', cuffed Shino roughly on the head then flung herself towards Hinata.

The other girl, her movements intent, slammed her hands down onto Ino's chest. There was almost an audible _snap!_ as Shintenshin no Jutsu was broken and her mind was sent flying back to her own body.

Long practise was the only thing that enabled her to dodge Hinata's next blow and Ino drove her elbow sharply into Hinata's stomach, making the other girl cry out. Ino, putting some distance between herself and the Byakugan, looked up to see Kiba bearing down on her.

Fury was written on his face.

_Oh shit,_ Ino thought as she brought her arms up to block his first blow. It was so powerful enough that it nearly knocked her over. _I'm screwed_. She wasn't going down without a fight though and narrowing her eyes in concentration managed to bring the side of her hand down sharply on one of his wrists.

He growled.

---

Alright, it wasn't sporting to hit a girl as hard as he was during a friendly spar but Kiba was pissed off at the way his body had been taken from his control and his blows were landing with more force than he normally used when it wasn't life or death.

The way that the blonde winced every time he managed to land a hit made him feel both a bit guilty - she really was just a slip of a girl after all - and better about the whole body snatching thing all at once.

He was glad though, fiercely glad, that the girl wasn't _pathetic_ at taijutsu. That wouldn't have been any fun at all and she was putting up more of a fight than he would have guessed. Kiba had thought she'd be crap at it from what he remembered in the exams. Her form had always been good but her power...

Well, most girls had sucked at that.

She ducked under his fist and kicked viciously at his knee caps. Swearing, he managed to connect a swift blow to her shoulder that sent her reeling back. Kiba followed up the motion with a kick to her stomach and to his surprise she managed to keep her feet.

Twisting like an eel she slipped under his guard and before he could pull away had smashed her feet on his. He yelped and she took that second of distraction to blacken his eyes. Kiba came up out of the pain a moment later, narrowly dodging a kick to his groin.

No longer playing now - his face fucking hurt - Kiba advanced on her ruthlessly. Grabbing at her trailing arm as she tried for another blow, Kiba pulled her against him forcing her arm behind her back painfully.

She cried out, sharply.

The shrill noise of a whistle pierced the air. "That's enough, kids. Break it up and discuss the spar with your respective teams." Sarutobi-sensei's voice rang over the clearing. Kurenai-sensei held the whistle in her hand.

Kiba let the girl go, she sank to the ground, and went to see if Shino and Hinata were okay. It had been fun, and he had a lot to think about.

Like why the hell Shikamaru smelled so strongly of anger when Kiba had attacked the girl. What else had he been supposed to do?

---

At Asuma-sensei's call to end the spar Ino slumped down to the ground and lay there, unmoving, for a minute before hauling herself up and beginning to stretch. Ino didn't want to move but knew that if she didn't that by tomorrow she'd be stiffening up.

Her arms hurt badly enough that Ino knew they would be black and blue by the afternoon. Kiba, even back in the Academy, had always been one of the stronger physical fighters. From the way that his blows had landed on her, even the ones she'd blocked, Ino knew that he had only gotten stronger. She approved of that in the abstract but wished that he hadn't taken it out on _her_ so much.

Raising her arms about her head, Ino winced as her shoulder sent a jolt of pain down her spine. Rolling it helped to dull the pain but she was glad that Shizune-sensei's lesson was still on for later. Shizune-sensei would fix the worse of the bruises.

Ino watched as Hinata and her team talked quietly to their sensei for a minute before heading for the exit. She paused as a thought occurred to her, and without even looking back started in the same direction that Team 8 had gone. There was something that she'd wanted to talk to Hinata about.

"Ino?" Shikamaru called, sounding annoyed, "Where are you going?"

"I'll be back!" Ino said with a flippant wave of her hand, as she increased her pace, "I want to talk to someone. Hinata-chan! Wait up!"

---

"Well?" Asuma asked Kurenai after they'd watched the kids untangle themselves, cool down, and trudge off. He found it interesting to notice that the Hyuuga heir walked off with Ino, both of the girls talking quietly. Asuma hadn't known that they were friends - Ino hadn't shown any sign of it during the Chuunin Exam. "What do you think?"

* * *

Hinata gingerly probed at her forearm and winced. She wasn't sure quite when she'd gotten hit there, but it was going be a nasty bruise. Now that the adrenaline was wearing off various aches and pains were making themselves known. She was obscurely glad of the pain, it meant that there was still more training for her to do.

"Hinata-chan! Wait up!" Ino's voice carried effortlessly to her in the morning air.

Turning, Hinata paused and looked back. Beside her Kiba and Shino stopped and did the same. They were planning on heading back to Kiba's place and review the fight in detail. There were several things that wanted answering.

Like what on earth Ino had used to disorient her. Her head _still_ hurt and she'd managed to surprise even herself by carrying on so well after the first shock of it had worn off. One hand crept up to rub under her eyes.

"Ino-san." Hinata said once the girl had reached them, faintly pink from running and a nasty looking bruise already forming on her cheek.

She got a grin that lit Ino's face. "It was fun today, wasn't it? You guys _flattened_ us though."

Hinata quickly tallied up her bruises and pounding head, the way Shino wasn't walking quite straight or steadily on his feet, Kiba's blackened eyes and swollen wrist. In her opinion the fight had been more even than the word 'flattened' suggested. "Ano, Ino-san – "

"Your team fought better than projected." Shino interrupted her, and Hinata lapsed gratefully into silence. "I did you a disservice with my assumptions."

Ino-san looked mildly put out and she placed her hands on her hips, "What do you mean, a disservice?"

Shino sighed quietly, and a grin cracked Kiba's face. "He didn't think you'd put up much of a fight, flower-girl."

"_Excuse me_?" Ino-san's voice went frosty and Hinata hunched her shoulders just a bit. She didn't want Ino to get mad at them, but at the same time what Kiba had said was true. While Hinata had objected to the assumptions she had still gone along with them.

"Hinata mentioned that you'd been training hard. In planning however I made the decision to overlook that and formulated our battle strategy based upon what I saw from you in the Chuunin Exam." Shino's voice was even, and the look he gave Kiba was mildly irritated. "Your improvement from then is marked."

Which was as close as Shino had ever come to giving an apology. Hinata fidgeted and wondered if it would be good enough for Ino-san, who seemed like the type of girl that wanted things said straight out.

Ino-san's anger deflated and her grin came back, this time a little smugger. "I was a surprise then? That's good, it'll teach you to make assumptions about me."

Shino nodded his head, "It was educational."

"Ano, Ino-san, what did you want to speak to me for?" Hinata asked in the resulting silence as Kiba smirked at Shino.

"Huh? Oh!" Ino's eyes darted to the boys then back and she said, "Can I walk with you a while?"

"We'll let you have your girl-talk," Kiba said, with a laugh, he'd been finding everything funny since Shikamaru had woken up for some reason. Hinata wondered if he'd tell them once they were back at the training ground, "Come on, Shino."

The boys picked up their pace and slowly Hinata and Ino followed. They walked together in silence for a few minutes, Ino's steps falling lightly into pace beside her. Hinata wondered what it was that she wanted. Ahead of them Shino said something that made Kiba throw back his head and laugh.

"So..." Ino said with the air of a person striving for nonchalance and not quite hitting the mark, "Tenten said that you'd talked to your Father about things. Is everything alright now? You getting along better?"

Hinata was touched that confident and easy going Ino-san would think to ask, and care, about what was going on in her life. "Neji-niisan and I talked to the Elder's." She said quietly at they rounded the corner that lead into Konoha proper, "We told them that it wasn't our wish to marry."

A grin tugged at Ino-san's lips, "Because you like someone else, right?"

She flushed, just a little bit, and Ino-san laughed. It was a kind laugh though and when Hinata answered with a simple 'yes' she took it seriously.

"Do _they_ know who you like?" Ino asked, "I know you think Naruto's great and everything, he's definitely a good guy, but I thought your Clan mostly stayed within it's own lines."

She did not mention that it was unheard of for a Hyuuga of the Main family to marry outside of it. Hinata was grateful for that. It was something that she couldn't even think about at the moment - not when Naruto wasn't actually interested in her, which made the entire point moot. And there was the small rebellious bit of her that remembered that Naruto had promised to change the Hyuuga.

"It does." Hinata said at last, "I have not told my Father the one that caught my eye. At the moment he seems to think that it is a member from another Clan." Which, while not acceptable for marriage, wasn't a dishonor to the Clan. That had been the gist of his speech when she'd told him.

Ino-san considered that, "Do you have a guy picked out? If he asks?"

Hinata flushed at the very idea, "Should I?" she asked worriedly, "But what if Father..." she trailed off, knowing that the rest of her sentence wouldn't happen. He'd never open negotiations with a lesser Clan for the marriage of his heir.

"You might want to think about it," Ino-san advised kindly, "just in case."

Shinobi rules weren't supposed to apply to ordinary situations. All the same, many of them were easily adaptable. _Shinobi Rule #42: Good Shinobi remove as many variables for failure before initiating any plan of action._

"I'll think about it." Hinata promised, smiling just a little at the absurdity of what she'd have to go through. Should she make a list? A flow chart? Something about her confusion must have shown because Ino-san looked considering.

"We could have a sleepover at my house to pick a suitable not-boyfriend." Ino suggested, already looking enthused about the idea even as Hinata stammered, "Sakura would come for sure, and I'm sure that between the two of us we could track Tenten down so she could come too. What do you think? It'd be fun!"

Looking at Ino's bright eyes and knowing that the other girl was only doing it to help her, Hinata capitulated. The whole idea made her feel embarrassed about it, but at the same time she thought that it might be easier with input from more worldlier kunoichi.

"Alright," she said quietly, "Finding a date to set it might be hard though…"

* * *

Sakura wanted nothing more than to fall into a nice warm bed and stay there for a century.

Possibly two.

It had begun raining not long after they'd left the sleepy little town that had been their mission base. A simple affair of bandits that had started getting ideas of grandeur. The villagers had sent for a team after the Elder's youngest daughter Umeko --

_who'd had long black hair and pretty brown eyes wide and sightless, fear written on her face and the soft folds of her kimono had done nothing to hide the ruin of her chest or the blood, dried to brown, and the entire small building smelled of decay_

-- had been kidnapped. They'd been able to save the village, but had been too late to save her. She'd been long dead by the time they had reached the village. Sakura shook her head and gently pushed the memories away.

There would be time later for nightmares. Right now she had to focus on her surroundings. Genma-taichou insisted on the strict observance of the rules. He'd mentioned in passing that none of them were good enough to get away with slacking off.

In front of her Chiba Yasuo walked point. His senses were the most advanced of the Genin and he was the most likely to spot an attack or anomaly. On the left was Nakamura Ima, a pretty girl with dark blue hair and a cheerful smile, and on the right was Ito Akira. Sakura could just make out his stocky body from the undergrowth and he flashed her a smile when he saw her looking then melted deeper into the forest. Their sensei had been killed during the Oto Invasion and they'd told that Tsunade-sama hadn't yet decided where to put them.

Sakura hoped that they found a good sensei, they'd made her welcome in the weeks she'd been with them. Behind her walked Genma-taichou who'd been a proctor in the Chuunin Exam.

As they reached the gates of Konohagakure and the Chuunin at the entrance confirmed their identities, Sakura wondered what he had thought of their performance. The bandits had proven to be a bit of a challenge to locate and infiltrate, but the actual eliminations had been almost too easy - they hadn't been prepared for shinobi to confront them and Team Genma had managed to do the job with nothing but a few minor scrapes and Yasuo's snapped wrist. She'd done the best she could, but had told him that he was going to have to see a full medic nin once they were finished.

"Alright, you four scatter." Genma-taichou said as they reached the Administration buildings, "You'll be called in for a debriefing within the next few days, but Hokage-sama won't need you all for the preliminary report."

And, Sakura thought wryly as Yasuo and Akira nodded their heads and headed off, this would let him talk about them freely. Ima rolled her eyes at Genma-taichou's back mouthing 'What, does he think we're stupid?' before, with a scattered wave of her hand, following after her team.

Taking a moment to adjust the straps of her pack - the water was making the shoulder straps hideously uncomfortable and Sakura was sure that she'd end up with friction burns - she shook her hair back and headed for home.

The rain had plastered her hair to her head and Sakura was glad that she wasn't one of the shinobi that wore white in their uniforms. Nothing was dry at this point and she took small comfort from the fact that at the very least no one could see her underwear.

Around her the streets hummed with activity as people rushed about concluding their business and heading off home for supper. It was a bit quieter than normal, the rain muffled many of the sounds, and Sakura could tell that she wasn't the only one glad to be heading home.

Turning on to her street Sakura picked up the pace, not caring if the water splashed at her toes since she'd be able to dry herself off in a few minutes. Spotting the light on in her kitchen, Sakura wondered what her parents would say. At least she'd come home unharmed - if she was lucky that would help to calm them down.

Knocking once on the door, just to alert them, Sakura tried the door knob and found it unlocked.

She frowned at it – even in a shinobi village that was abysmally poor security. With a sigh, it wasn't the first time that she'd found the door unlocked, Sakura stepped inside and breathed deeply of the smells of cooking rice and vegetables.

"Sakura?" Her father was coming down the stairs, a book in his hand and a tired smile on his worn face, "We weren't sure when to expect you home." The look in his eyes made her want to cringe, but there was nothing that she could have done about it. Mission details like that were confidential for a reason and Sakura wasn't about to blab just to sooth her parents minds.

"Sakura!" Her mother came out of the kitchen and stopped dead at the sight of her. Sakura wondered if it was the fact that she was dripping enough water on the floor to fill a pool or that they'd ended on such bad terms when she had left that kept her from coming closer. "Are you hurt?"

That question made her smile, and she shook her head. "I'm fine, Mom. Soaked, and tired of course but nothing worse than that."

Her parents exchanged a long glance and Sakura shifted uncomfortably. Her clothes were sticking to her skin and she was becoming aware of the fact that she rather desperately needed a bath.

"I know you'd like to rest, sweetheart," her mother said quietly, "but while you were gone your father and I talked about things, and a few of them we'd like to discuss with you before anything else."

That, Sakura knew without a doubt was a bad sign. Even worse was their insistence as they hurried her to the living room, still soaking wet and carrying her pack, that she would have to wait to get changed into something warm and more importantly, dry.

Pushing her sodden hair back from her face, Sakura touched the cold metal of her hitae-ate for reassurance. She was a proud shinobi of the leaf, she could survive what was shaping up to look like a highly unpleasant conversation.

_Especially when they want me as miserable as possible. _

Her eyes when she was seated on the couch, taking a small bit of pleasure in the way that her mother's eyes winced at the trail of water she left behind her, were icy. This wasn't what she'd wanted to do - if Sakura had had her way then she would have been asleep by now. Already she knew what they were going to say and felt impatient with them for not getting it.

She wasn't quitting. Nor was she going to start refusing missions just because her parents thought they were too dangerous.

Satisfied that her resolve was still steady, knowing that what they said wouldn't make a difference, Sakura settled in to ride out the argument that was going to happen. The quicker she got this over with was the quicker she could rest. Her sandals were rubbing her feet raw and Sakura reached down to tighten the strap so it wouldn't move as much against her skin. Her mother watched her with weary love as her father handed her a small peach towel and a cup of tea.

"To dry your face." He told her almost apologetically. Sakura both mechanically and swiped at her face a few times. Taking a sip of the tea, it nearly scalded her, she wondered what he would have told her had they been alone. When she'd still been in the Academy her father had told her once, then never mentioned it again, that he'd always wanted to be a ninja. His parents hadn't let him though.

"Sakura," Sayako said in a gentle voice, leaning forward, "we talked about what you said when you left, about how _it _was in your blood, and we want to know if they did anything at the Academy to you."

Did anything? Sakura furrowed her brow in confusion - they'd trained her day in and day out on how to think, how to react, what to say... did that count as anything? She wasn't sure what her mother was asking here.

Her father, Haruno Manzo, upon seeing her bewilderment spoke, "Your mother wants, I mean _we_ want to know if they did anything to… alter your mind. Like drugs, perhaps."

Sakura's eyes widened as what they were insinuating hit her and she struggled with a fury that made her breathless. Inside she was shrieking obscenities, but all that showed to them was a narrowing of her eyes and the sudden stiffness of her body. She gently put the cup down before it broke.

"How dare you," she said in a low dangerous voice that Shizune-sensei had taught her to use when she wanted to be listened to, "How dare you think that I don't know my own mind?"

Sayako's eyes welled up with tears and Sakura was too furious with them to care. "We just want to know what's wrong with you, sweetheart. You used to be such a _good_ child and we're trying our best to understand the young lady you've become. So cold, so distant. You used to tell us everything. What changed?"

This, at least, she could answer. "I graduated, Mom." Sakura said, tucking her arms around her to ward off a chill that had nothing to do with the temperature, "As an active kunoichi there's much I can't talk to you about." _Shinobi Rule #67: Shinobi are required to maintain silence towards civilians in all matters pertaining to the village and the affairs thereof._

Becoming Tsunade-sama's apprentice meant that nearly everything Sakura did fell under that rule. It was also true that after the break up of her team – which she'd only mentioned sketchily to her parents – that she had pulled back from them and turned more to her ninja friends.

_They_ understood her.

"We're your parents." Sayako said firmly, "And we think that you should be speaking to us about what's going on in your life. The details that form you, our daughter." Manzo looked uncomfortable about this and Sakura wondered again what he would have said if she talked to him alone.

"If I did that," she said quietly enough that her mother had to lean forward to catch the words, "then I'd be entertaining the T&I specialists of ANBU very quickly under suspicion of treason." The law made that quite clear. Tsunade-sama had made it even clearer.

It was one thing to speak of shinobi matters with other shinobi – Sakura knew that Ino talked to her father quite often about what all went on – and quite another thing to speak of it to civilians. Another shinobi would have the training to resist having information pulled from them, civilians had no such protection.

Her mother gasped, "But you're just a _baby_, barely a Genin, surely they wouldn't, if you'd just quit then none of this would – "

"I've been Genin for nearly a year." Sakura fumed over the 'baby' comment. Under shinobi law she was considered a full adult with all the rights and privileges. She was young, yes, and in a situation where another shinobi was in command she would defer to them… but legally she was just as grown up as her parents. "And I'm not quitting." That, as far as she was concerned, had never been an option.

Sakura looked at the weary face of her father, to the beseeching eyes of her mother and thought that she'd never felt more alone. They never would be able to understand her, she realized with a heavy heart, she'd never be able to talk to them without the wall built by the law standing between them. There was a time for this conversation, she knew that it wouldn't be put off indefinitely, but the time wasn't when she was tired, cold, and hungry. _I've got to get out of here._

"I'm going." Sakura said abruptly, cutting her mother off. She stood up, wincing at the weight of her pack – medical supplies for a novice medic-nin weren't light – and stepped towards the door.

Her mother hurried in front of her before she'd made it to the hall. "Where are you going?" She demanded, blue eyes furious, "We're not done talking."

"I forgot." Sakura lied, saying the first thing that came to mind, "I'd promised Ino that I'd sleepover with her tonight. With the mission, I almost forgot."

Then, before her mother could tell her to forget about Ino, Sakura quickly pushed past her and sped down the hall and out the door. The rain hit her hard, it had only worsened while she'd been inside, and within seconds the small warmth she'd regained had fled. Shivering, she crossed her arms over her chest and let her feet lead her.

Eventually, Sakura knew, she'd end up at Ino's. Somehow, she always did. Ino had, even as a child, a gift at solving other people's problems. Right now though she wanted to be alone.

Slowly she walked, heedless of the rain and of common sense telling her to stay inside, and when she paid attention to her surroundings found that she was standing on the bridge that Team 7 had always met on.

Running her hands along the railing, then leaning against it, Sakura stared down at the rushing river and wondered what she was supposed to feel. Already she could tell where this line of conflict with her parents was going to lead. Things would only get worse over time, not better, as she advanced in rank and learned more and more information that was on a strict need to know basis. Should she be feeling sad? Angry?

All she could really think about was the exhaustion that it would bring with it. If she had to face her parents after every mission and fend off their need to know what she'd been doing, and heaven forbid if they had to come and visit her in the hospital… Sakura knew she wouldn't be able to deal with that for long.

Time passed, how long she wasn't sure, before she slowly became aware of a familiar presence. She wondered what had brought him, wondered if he missed their team as much as she did. Sakura raised one hand in greeting without turning around. "Kakashi-sensei."

"You've gotten better." He commented stepping up to lean against the railing beside her,

"Before… you wouldn't have noticed me."

"Hmm." Sakura didn't disagree and occupied herself with studying her sensei from the corner of her eye. He looked well, though she wouldn't have put money on that diagnosis before seeing him under plain light. "I've had a good teacher."

He winced at the tone of her voice – both of them knew that she didn't mean him. Kakashi-sensei said nothing though and they lapsed into silence. It was the first time she'd seen him since Naruto had been brought back, nearly dead, and Sasuke had left them. There was no excuse that he could give her that would make up for being left out in the cold. Yes, he'd have been busy – but Ino's sensei had been just as busy and yet had still found the time to show up at Ino's party.

"What do you want, Kakashi-sensei?" Sakura asked finally when her irritation overcame her apathy and the man showed no signs of leaving her alone.

"Couldn't I have just wanted to see one of my cute students?" He asked lightly, avoiding her question.

Sakura snorted, pushing away from the railing and crossing her arms, "You haven't wanted to see me for _months_. I don't see why that would have changed." It had been easy not to think about it while she was so busy, and Tsunade-sama was everything that she'd ever wanted from a teacher… but confronted with the man who had been, had supposed to have been teaching her, Sakura found it a little harder to forget about it.

Kakashi sighed and kept his face turned from her. "I know," he said so quietly that she had to strain to hear him over the sound of the rain, "that you have every right to be angry… but I really did come to see how you were doing."

A smile twisted her lips, and Sakura found that she didn't want to be angry with him, not with everything else that was going on. Not right now. "You're always late aren't you, sensei?"

He shrugged and Sakura could tell that he was smiling behind his mask as he turned to face her. "Have been for years."

Sakura shook her head and changed the subject, "You've been busy then?"

"Of course." The look he gave her made her wish she hadn't asked. Of course Sharingan Kakashi would be in high demand after a disaster like the invasion. "What about you?"

"I've been working." Sakura told him with a shrug, "Tsunade-sama keeps me busy."

"And that's why you're out here?" he chided her, "All alone in the rain?"

Sakura thought about the answers she could give to that. Did she want to go into the details of what her home life was turning into? Or how she was working so hard that sometimes even her dreams would be filled with nothing but scrolls and texts all dealing with medicine. In the end the one she gave was, "Fifty percent right. Kakashi-sensei, you're slipping."

"What's the other fifty?" He asked and she could tell that in his own way he did care. He was just abysmal at showing it.

"Personal stuff." Sakura said with a shrug, starting to walk off. She would have to get to Ino's soon if she wanted to have a chance of finding her friend awake. "I'll see you around, Kakashi-sensei."

A crack of thunder drowned out what her teacher said in response. When she looked back he was gone.

* * *

_Rabbit. Boar. Bird. Rabbit. Dog._

"Hair Tie no Jutsu!" Ino said firmly as her chakra soaked into the hair on her desk. The few golden strands gave a convulsive shiver and then were still. Narrowing her eyes at them, and without removing her hands from where they rested just an inch above the hair, Ino checked the flow of chakra.

It was still there. The jutsu was still active.

Biting down a squeal of delight, the last thing she needed was to disrupt her own concentration, Ino carefully lifted her hands further away from the hairs. Chakra continued to trickle from her hands and she took painstaking care to make certain that her movements were smooth.

When her hands rested in her lap and the chakra flow had stabilized (there had been a few dicey moments when the table had come between her hands and the hair) Ino nodded her head decisively. The chakra drain was slight enough that it wasn't likely to become a serious danger to her reserves. Shizune-sensei had said that the constant drain, however minor, was likely to be beneficial to increasing her reserves.

More importantly though - it was _working._

So far, at least. Now to try the next step. She had to be able to control the hair long enough to have it grasp the glasses, then 'harden' the hair so that it wouldn't shift. What use was a jutsu that would let her control her hair only to have it fall out of her power the moment she stopped focusing on it? Ino knew that she needed to get this next part to work for the jutsu to be of any use in the long run to her.

_Go on_, Ino thought sternly at the strands of her hair, _go on and grab those glasses. Go on, go on..._

Slowly, almost enough so that she wanted to shiver with her impatience, the hair began to twitch. First the left side, then the right, the hairs began snaking over the desk top towards the battered pair of glasses that were serving as her object of desire.

The real glasses were resting on her bed, where they'd been tossed, since the night before, on her final attempt of the night, the jutsu had backfired on her and the hairs had gone ballistic. They'd nearly crushed her old pair of glasses before Ino had remembered to stop gaping in shock. As it was though, Ino didn't want her pink glasses anywhere near homicidal hair.

The hairs on the right reached the glasses first and she, using her chakra, directed them to twine around the handles. Once that side was settled to her satisfaction Ino turned her attention to the left and positioned it the same way.

_There_. With a peculiar mental _stomp_, Ino hardened the hair around the glasses. Hopefully they would stay secure with that.

She had her hair shake the glasses. At first nothing but a gentle tremor but carefully Ino gradually increased the power of the motion until she was satisfied that the glasses weren't going anywhere.

Letting the jutsu lapse, the hair falling quiescent around the glasses, Ino tugged forward her heavily marked up scroll and put a little red star next to the one that had finally worked. Shikamaru's idea about compensating for the repeated rabbit seal was what had done the job, though it had taken her a bit of work to come up with the pattern for the seals. Ino bit her lip and then nodded her head firmly.

She'd show Shikamaru and thank him for his help tomorrow. _A fight's a fight_, her mother's voice rang in her ears, _but always give credit where it is due._

Ino could do that. She would.

(And if she hoped that it would unsettle Shikamaru enough to be less persistent than normal in wanting to know how her mind ticked... well, that would be a major bonus.)

He'd finally cornered her into naming a time and place for the Talk (as she thought of it) and Ino wasn't looking forward to it. Shikamaru had been acting darker than ever since they'd lost to Hinata's team.

It had been galling to lose, but at the same time, Ino could freely admit that Team 8 was far, _far_ better equipped for an all out battle. And the look on Kiba's face as she'd countered him with pure taijutsu - all stuff that her father had been teaching her - was something that Ino would treasure for a long time.

Downstairs the doorbell rang. Once, twice, a momentary pause, then once, twice...

Ino got to her feet slowly, stashing a kunai in the wide sleeve of her nightgown. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was after ten at night (and that she really should be sleeping).

Heading downstairs Ino could hear the sound of the rain patter through the open window in the kitchen. She winced at the scolding that was sure to come of _that_. Her mother wouldn't accept 'I didn't hear it!' as an excuse for water all over the tile.

Ino wondered who it could be. Her mother was out at a dinner party with a group of her old friends and her father was still out on mission and not expected back for the next few days. And neither of them would have used the ringer, Ino thought.

Who ever was at the door didn't seem to be getting tired of waiting. The bell rang again, and again. Ino straightened her shoulders – it wasn't like she could ignore it because what if it was a message from Asuma-sensei or something? – and ruffled her hair to make it look like she'd been sleeping. That way she'd have an excuse if it was someone important.

Unlatching the door, Ino peeked around it narrowing her eyes at the sting of rain. It was a very familiar face she found on the other side.

"Sakura?"

Sakura looked worse than a drowned rat and a wet weekend all rolled into one, and Ino could see from the way that she stood that Sakura was nearly ready to collapse. She opened the door wider, letting more of the light from the kitchen out.

"What happened to you?" Ino demanded, her voice rising with her agitation. It was obvious that Sakura had just gotten back from a mission – she still had her pack hoisted on her back for starters – and Ino couldn't think of why Sakura would be here instead of at home. Asleep.

"Hey," Sakura said with a weak attempt at a smile, "Can I stay with you tonight?"

* * *

Ino came back from her early morning training and when she stumbled into her room found Sakura still sprawled out, dead to the world, on the futon Ino had dug out of a closet and set up for her last night.

Slipping into her room Ino grabbed a clean uniform, her hairbrush, and her towel then hurried off to shower. While Sakura had the day off – it was standard protocol after missions outside of the village – Ino didn't and if she wanted to get answers to a few of her questions before heading off to meet up with Asuma-sensei then she'd have to make the time.

When she got out of the shower the clock read half past seven. Drying herself off quickly, she had to meet up with her team at nine and it would take her a good fifteen minutes to get to the training ground, Ino dressed and roughly toweled her hair dry. Then, while winding bandages around her fingers and up her arms to stop just before her elbows, she went to go and wake Sakura. After a few months of practise the motions came easily.

Finding Sakura still asleep – Ino had hoped that she'd have woken on her own – and showing no signs of waking anytime soon, Ino paused for a moment and wondered if she should just leave it until the evening.

Then she remembered that her parents didn't even know Sakura was staying with them and that she'd have to tell them _something_, preferably before they came across Sakura on her own. With a sigh, Ino knelt down and gently shook Sakura awake.

When Sakura was blinking sleepily at her Ino started talking, "Hey, Forehead. I know you're sleepy but there's a few things we need to talk about right now." And besides, Sakura could always go back to sleep afterwards.

With a moan, Sakura pushed herself up, hair sticking up all over the place and rubbing at her eyes. "What time is it?"

"You don't want to know." Ino told her, "Don't think about it."

"…it's early, isn't it?"

"Yes," Ino admitted freely, "but I need to know what's going on with you before I talk to my parents about you staying here for a few days at least."

"I wasn't planning on – "

"I know." Ino ran roughshod over Sakura's objections, "But you are now. After the state you were in last night you aren't going home until I say you can."

The way that Sakura just gave in and sighed spoke volumes. None of it good. That wasn't the Sakura she was used to dealing with. Ino bit her lip and sat down next to her. "You wanna tell me what's going on?"

Ino held still when Sakura's head rested on her shoulder, "I know we haven't had much time to talk lately," and she was going to have to figure out a way to change that because obviously she'd missed something big, "but you know that you can tell me anything, right?"

"Yeah," Sakura said quietly, "You know I'm a first generation shinobi. I think I told you back at the Academy…"

"I remember." Ino shrugged lightly, careful not to dislodge Sakura's head from its resting place. Sakura always had been slow to tell people that, almost as if she was ashamed of being the first of her line. "Suzume-sensei had partnered us up for a project on Council rulings." Ino had spent most of the time explaining things like the Clan Confidential to Sakura and when she'd gotten frustrated about talking about things any shinobi aught to know Sakura had shyly confessed that no one in her family had ever been a ninja.

And just like that, what was going on fell into her lap, and Ino's eyes softened, "You having a hard time at home with the civilians?"

"They want me to quit." Sakura told her, "I told them that I _can't_. That it's in my blood, and now they're talking as if the Academy abused me or something. I don't know. That's when I walked out – there was no way I could deal with it right then."

"_Abused?_" Ino repeated incredulously, "What are they thinking?"

The smile Sakura gave her didn't reach the eyes, "They just want me to be safe. In the light of Konoha's recent… difficulties, they don't want me to continue on."

"Right." Ino was so furious that it was hard work to keep it from showing in her face and voice, but she managed because Sakura didn't need to hear what Ino was thinking about calling her best friend's parents. "You go back to sleep. I'll take care of my parents and we'll talk more about yours later."

Sakura was asleep within moments of her head touching the pillow again. Ino stared down at her best and oldest friend for a long minute before getting up and stalking out of her room. She was going to talk to her mother.

Ino had no doubts that she'd be able to get her to agree to let Sakura stay for a while. Yamanaka Mui had been a first generation shinobi back before she married and had been know only as Tanaka Mui. Ino had heard the stories about her mother's break with her family from the time she'd been able to walk – she still hadn't ever met her grandparents on her mother's side. Perhaps her mother would be able to help Sakura.

Either way, Ino was going to make sure that the transition was as seamless as possible for Sakura. Ino wouldn't let her friend down. That's what friends were for. No matter what she did Ino knew that it would be a difficult thing for Sakura but it was up to her to make sure that it wasn't as difficult for her as it had been for her mother.

Ino shot out of the house and headed for the shop. She'd be late for training, but Ino thought that it was a small cost to pay. Some things were more important than training.

* * *

Shikamaru showed up the next day on Ino's doorstep at quarter after six in the morning. He was fifteen minutes early and Yamanaka Mui gave him more than one puzzled and mildly surprised look as she let him in. He followed her down the hall to the kitchen.

"Ino will be down in a few minutes."

"Thank you." He murmured as she pressed a glass of juice on him and leaned against the kitchen doorway. Rubbing at his eyes, they burned from lack of sleep, Shikamaru took an absent sip of the juice.

Ino, he had no doubt of this, had picked the time for the talk to be as inconvenient for him as possible. She was an early riser, whereas Shikamaru thought that getting up at nine was way too early. Unfortunately for her just lately Shikamaru had been getting used to waking up with the sun.

It was the only time of day that he _knew_ he would be able to find his father so long as Shikaku wasn't out on a mission. If he tried searching for him any later than that it would be like searching for a senbon in a haystack.

The books on nightmares, and his ancestor's research into the topic had answered many of his questions, but for others he needed a closer perspective than the dry words of those long dead. His father was more than willing to at least attempt to answer his questions, and had taken to adding some further training with their Shadow Jutsu. As if in response to his thoughts, Shikamaru's shadow twitched against the door frame. He frowned at it when Yamanaka Mui's back was turned.

The training was useful, he knew that, but it would take a while before the good out-weighed the bad. At the moment the next level of Shadow Jutsu had the side effect of making his shadow more responsive to his thoughts. His father had said that it would get worse before it stabilized into something he could control more efficiently.

Ino came down the stairs a few moments later, bright-eyed and with her hair still damp from her shower. Those awful pink glasses of hers were perched on top of her head. Her smile faltered for a second when she noticed him and Shikamaru shoved away his annoyance at that.

"We're going, Mother!" Ino chirped brightly while looking at him significantly. "Isn't that right, Shikamaru?"

Shikamaru tried not to look as if this was a surprise to him. They had decided that the talk would be held in Ino's room the last he'd heard of it. He narrowed his eyes at her, if she was trying to get out of it again…

Ino shook her head minutely, her eyes pleading.

He sighed and pushed himself off the door frame. "Yeah, we're going." Shikamaru set his cup down in the sink and let Ino grab his arm and lead him out of the house. Once they were off the door step and out of sight of Mui, Ino let him go.

"What was that all about?" He demanded as she lead the way through the streets. "I thought we were talking in your room?"

"Only if you wanted an audience." Ino replied curtly over her shoulder, "I thought it would be better to keep this private."

Well, he couldn't really argue with that. Shikamaru was guessing that this conversation would be irritating enough without having to deal with someone else listening in. There was one question he wanted to have answered though and he picked his pace up enough so that he was on level with Ino and gave her a side long glance, "Who would have been in the audience? Doesn't your mother go and start setting up the shop around this time?"

"Not my mother." Ino said quietly, "Sakura's staying at my place for a few days – she's having difficulties with her parents about being a shinobi."

"Oh." Shikamaru shut up on that topic. It _really_ wasn't any of his business then. Haruno was a clever enough girl, he supposed, if overly impressed by book smarts, and she'd managed to get taken on as Tsunade-sama's apprentice so she had to have talent. He hadn't realized though that she was first generation. He thought about the Oto invasion and how it would look to a civilian…

Shikamaru winced.

Yes, he could see why she'd be having problems. Konoha hadn't exactly covered itself with glory in the last while. "What do her parents do for a living?" He hadn't meant to ask the question, but found himself hoping Ino would answer anyway.

Ino's lips twisted into a smile that wasn't real, "They're tailors. Kimono design specialists actually. They've been gaining popularity recently."

Shikamaru shook his head. How had two clothing designers wound up with a ninja for a daughter? He was mildly surprised that Sakura hadn't had any problems before now. "And it's the first time that she's had problems?" His voice was slightly incredulous.

Ino shrugged as they ducked on to one of the paths that dipped down and went for a ways alongside the river. "I asked and she said something about her father wishing that he'd been a ninja…" She flung herself on one of the carved stone benches and drew her knees up under her chin.

"Hmm." Shikamaru took a seat next to her. They sat in silence for a few moments.

Then Ino said sharply, "You're the one who wanted to talk. So talk."

Shikamaru studied the grass that was poking up between the stones of the path before saying, "How long have you been studying medical jutsu?" His trips to the library hadn't proved all that useful. There was so much that a medic-nin could do with the right training that to make up his mind on how to deal with a budding one on his team he needed more information.

Ino looked defiant, "Since the middle of September."

Just over two months then. Shikamaru was pleased to find that she hadn't been lying to him for longer than that. "Your father's alright with you just ignoring your family jutsu?" She kicked him hard enough that he knew he was going to bruise. "Ow! Ino!"

"Shizune-sensei agreed to train me as a field medic." Ino said furiously, "Nothing more than that. I am not letting my Clan down so you'd better take that back."

Well, that was one of his questions answered. Shikamaru figured that the pain in his thigh was worth it. Rubbing his thigh, he sighed, "Look, I'm sorry – but what was I supposed to think? You haven't told me _anything_."

Ino had the grace to look sheepish at that. She looked down and fiddled with the ends of her bandages. "What did you want to know then?" If her voice was resentful, well, Shikamaru was going to let that slide.

Finally. That was what he'd wanted to have from the start. Taking a deep breath, he decided to start with the simplest question. It was the most practical of them, and one that he thought Ino would mind answering the least. "Your medic training… what can you do?"

She perked up and for a moment Shikamaru saw the girl he'd gone to the Academy with – the one that was always willing to brag about what she was able to do – before she started to speak with a clarity and conciseness that was entirely new.

As he listened to her speak Shikamaru studied her covertly. Her hair was slowly growing back, he was glad of that because she wasn't quite _Ino_ without a mass of blonde hair spilling down her back. There was a new confidence in her way of speaking. Not a confidence born of bravado but rather a deeper sort. A truer faith in her abilities. The wear on her sandals showed that she'd been doing more than just medical training and Shikamaru thought again of the fight with Team 8 where Ino had done better than any of his plans had thought to estimate.

"Shizune-sensei said she'll be starting me on healing simple breaks and deeper wounds after the new year." Ino was saying as she wound to a close, "Right now though we're concentrating on minor wounds and common poisons."

He nodded, what she'd given him was more than enough information to work with. "What else can you do?"

Ino stretched and draped her arms over the back of the bench. "I've been working heavily on taijutsu – my Father's helping – and also working on learning a few more Clan techniques."

"Any specifics?"

She looked only mildly apologetic, "Only one new Jutsu is far enough along to use in combat and Father said I can't talk about it until _he _is satisfied with my performance."

… how troublesome. Shikamaru thought about it, then said, "What was it that made Hinata so sick at the start of the spar?"

The faint blush on Ino's cheeks was answer enough. "Anything else you wanted to know?" She asked him archly.

Shikamaru thought about his other questions and discarded most of them. They weren't things Ino was going to answer right here and now if she wasn't allowed to talk about some of her training. He weighed his last two questions carefully – Ino wasn't likely to stick around long enough to answer the both of them.

Making his decision before she could get impatient, he said, "Why didn't you tell Chouji and I about your training?" The other question was: What is your problem lately? But Shikamaru figured that she was more likely to answer the first one.

Ino looked uncomfortable under his scrutiny. Shikamaru shrugged it off, he wasn't going to let her wiggle out of answer it. If they'd been out of the village for missions that sort of omission could have gotten them all killed.

"I told Asuma-sensei." Ino objected half-heartedly. Shikamaru's eyes narrowed at that. Asuma-sensei hadn't told him that. What had his sensei been going on about then saying that it was up to him to make up the strategy for the team?

"Great," Shikamaru said dryly, "now what can you tell me?"

Her eyes narrowed in true anger and he wondered if she would just stomp off without saying anything. Then she said, "You want to know why? Because I didn't want to tell you. Simple as that."

Except it wasn't that simple and both of them knew it. "Why didn't you want to tell me then?"

She took a deep breath and he was discomfited to realize that there were tears in her eyes. Ino didn't let them fall though, "Because I wanted to be treated the way I used to be. An equal member of Team 10. Not like some _doll_."

Just like everyone had been telling him. Shikamaru winced as she wiped away a few tears. He knew what he had to tell her to make it right. Even if he wanted to keep her away from the dangers that he'd encountered. That would be something then he'd deal with when the time came. Shikamaru could feel his stomach clenching as Ino's shoulders shook. _She's not supposed to cry… _"I'll try," he said quietly, finally, "to remember that from now on."

Ino nearly knocked him over with the hug she gave him. Shikamaru flushed at the spectacle they must be making and was glad that this early in the morning there weren't many people down by the river paths. Awkwardly he patted her shoulders.

She calmed quickly, for which he was grateful even if his shirt was a bit damp, and pulled away from him. He watched silently as she went to wash her face in the river to ease the effects of her crying spree.

The smile he got from her trembled slightly when she came back, but it was genuine. "Sorry."

He had to ask, with girls he was never sure of how things stood. "We alright?"

Ino gave him a searching glance, he didn't know what she was looking for, but at length she said, "Not yet, but we're getting there."

It was better than they'd been for months. Shikamaru could live with it for now. "Want to head out and grab something to eat before training?"

"Sure." She turned to go, took two steps then whipped around to face him so quickly that he nearly crashed into her. Her glasses stayed steady while her hair was a movement behind. One hand crept up to touch them.

"I finished the Jutsu." Ino told him.

"That's good." Shikamaru said, "They were a liability before." They still were, but it was mildly less annoying to have to deal with now that there wasn't the chance of them falling off at the worse possible moment.

She fidgeted then said, all in a rush, "Thank you for helping me. It would have taken so much longer if you hadn't helped." Then, before he could really register that Ino had thanked him, sincerely, for his help, she pressed her lips to his cheek.

He had a split second to realize what had just happened and then Ino was dancing away from him, only a faint flush on her face betraying the fact that she'd done anything out of the ordinary. "Hurry up, Shikamaru!"

"I'm coming!" He told her, one hand brushing his cheek as he hurried after her, "What are you in such a rush for?"

She ignored that and merely called back, "It's your treat, right?"

* * *

Tsunade frowned at the messenger bird, her fingers itching for a kunai. Unconcerned, the bird preened its feathers, the clouds on its identity tag speaking louder than words where it was from. With a final distrustful glance at the bird she broke open the scroll and wondered what the Raikage had to say to her.

Konoha and Kumo hadn't been on speaking terms in years. She could only suspect that it was the death of the Sandaime that prompted this missive. Perhaps they thought that she would be an easier mark? Tsunade snorted at the idea.

Reading the scroll, then reading it again, had her frowning, deep in thought. She still thought that the Raikage likely had something up his sleeve... but his idea still had merit. And it would give her younger shinobi a chance to get acquainted with the terrain – just in case. Tapping the scroll against her cheek and shooing the bird away, Tsunade considered the time frame she would have to arrange for. It was early November now and she had to the end of December to get all of the paperwork done.

Realizing that she'd actually have to _work_ at it Tsunade sighed heavily, looked mournfully at the clock – she had wanted to get out of the office by noon and head over to the hospital to give Sakura some more hands on training – and pulled out the first set of forms she'd have to fill out. There were the heads of the Clans to be notified, then the Jounin sensei…

And she still had that meeting with Morino at eleven.

She knew what he wanted though, so Tsunade didn't think that it would take long. Hmm… she'd have to start setting Sakura more book work for the days and have her lessons at night, that would work for a while even if it wasn't optimal.

Jotting down a quick note to the Suna Council – which was acting as head of the village until a new Kazekage was chosen – she straightened her shoulders and with a will that would have surprised Shizune Tsunade started filling out all of the paperwork that would have to be done in time for this… unexpected… offer to go into effect for January.

The Godaime Hokage was so intent on her paperwork that she was surprised when there was a discreet knock on her door and one of her ANBU informed her that Morino had arrived. After a quick glance at the clock, where had the time gone?, she called for him to come in. There was no point in hiding the paperwork from _him_ even if she didn't want this spread all over the village yet.

The scarred Special Jounin entered the room and bowed until she waved for him to take a seat. Leaning back in her own chair Tsunade waited for him to speak, no point in letting him out right know how eager she wasn't about this.

"It has been a month, Hokage-sama." Morino Ibiki's voice was politely deferential after a few moments of silence. "What is your decision?"

"What are your opinions of her?" Tsunade countered. She'd been working the past month on getting to know all of her permanently stationed staff and Morino was one of those that seldom left Konoha. It was easy to predict that he'd had Yamanaka Ino under his own surveillance for the last while.

The pleased grin she got from the tall, bear-like man was confirmation enough that she'd been right to peg him as having the girl watched. "Kid's not bad," he said slowly, "Huge difference from the last Chuunin Exam, she managed to hold her own well enough in a straight taijutsu fight against Inuzuka Kiba long enough that in a real combat situation her teammates would have been able to back her up."

"Inuzuka? That's surprising." The Inuzuka Clan was known for being handy with taijutsu – most of their Clan secrets being based around it in some way or another. "What else?" Taijutsu was wasn't everything after all.

"She's pretty solid at the moment for a Genin." Ibiki said firmly after a pause to think, "She'll be one of the more likely contenders to make Chuunin in the next Exam or two, unless there's a glut of genius again. Yamanaka's a clever girl, and better, knows how to think – though her impulse control needs a bit more work. My money's on the next exam frankly, she's improved that much."

Tsunade nodded her head, everything he'd said correlated well with her own research coupled with Shizune's observations. "I'll want to see any surveillance tapes you've got on her before making my final decision."

"Of course, Hokage-sama. We have a room already prepared on the second floor."

Tucking her paperwork away under a minor, but tricky to break, genjutsu Tsunade followed Morino out of her office stopping to have a quick word with the ANBU that materialized at her shoulders.

Reaching one of the video rooms, one normally used for medical lectures and large mission debriefings, she wasn't surprised to find another person already there given Ibiki's wording. Nor was she surprised to see the scarlet spiral tattooed on the other's arm.

"Watanabe Kotone, Jounin. Intelligence." The dark haired woman said simply naming herself, rank, and official affiliation within ANBU, before bowing formally, "I am pleased to be of service, Hokage-sama."

"At ease." Tsunade said, taking a good look at the Jounin in front of her, who was wearing the traditional ANBU uniform, sans cape, with the mask of a dog perched on her head, "I take it that if I give the go ahead you'll be Yamanaka's main observer?"

Watanabe smiled, raising one finger to her lips, "Of course, Hokage-sama. The girl will never realize."

"I should hope not." Tsunade said dryly, as Morino headed to the front of the room and began fiddling with the wires of the television, "The whole point of this is to do it without her knowing about it."

Taking a seat where she'd best be able to watch the screen, Tsunade waited for the video to start. Only then would she make her final decision… though it was looking more and more likely that she'd be telling Shizune the news soon enough.

Too many people were in on it already to make putting a stop to it easy. Watanabe's assured presence said that much, no doubt they already had a plan in place waiting to be executed at a moment's notice.

Tsunade couldn't help but be proud, a bit, of her shinobi for being so clever. Even if they were manipulating _her_.

Huh, maybe she was getting used to this whole Hokage thing.

* * *

Her body ached. It wasn't a new occurrence ever since she'd started training harder, but that didn't mean Ino had to be happy with it. Her father didn't go easy on her when they had their training sessions. Neither did Tenten when they managed to get together long enough to do more than catch up on each other's news.

Ino was walking back to her house after her latest lesson with her father. He'd stayed behind, saying something about seeing if he could drag Shikaku out for a spar. Fiddling with the bandages on her hands - they'd become slightly loose during her training - Ino took to the roof-tops.

A quick glance at the position of the sun told her that she had a little over an hour before she had to meet up with her team for their latest mission. Time enough then for her to get home and have a quick shower before heading out again.

Even on the rooftops at this time of the day there was a fair bit of traffic, mostly shinobi heading off to their various missions and duty's for the day. Ino briefly wished that her training had ended earlier thereby allowing her to miss the throng of people who would see her in this disheveled state. Ino took pride in her appearance, and her filthy uniform and messy hair was wounding to her image.

On the other hand, she thought, as she waved to a Chuunin she'd met while working at the Academy, no one was going to blink at the fact that she'd been out training. The Chuunin, in fact, looked at her appearance approvingly. Ino comforted herself with that. The dirt would wash off after all (though the bruises would hurt for a while yet). Shizune-sensei had forbidden her to practise healing her own training bruises without supervision so she'd have to wait until her lesson in the late afternoon.

Slipping in through her window - it was safe right now to do with no one home. Her father would scold her if he knew though, and her mother would have simply sighed and asked her if she couldn't just go through the door like everyone else did. But her mother was at the shop right now.

_What they don't know_, she thought virtuously, _won't hurt them._

Besides, the window was faster and more convenient. Making sure that it was latched behind her was the work of seconds. Setting up the traps she used to secure it took a few minutes. Her father insisted on the traps.

"Geez, isn't that a bit paranoid?" Sakura asked from behind her. Ino yelped, spinning on her heels to turn and face her.

"Forehead! Try knocking next time!" Ino scolded to cover her racing heartbeat as Sakura smirked at her from the door. "What are you doing home at this time of the day? And besides, trapping your windows and doors in common sense in a shinobi village, my father taught me this."

"Tsunade-sama had some important work come up, so she's assigned me a ton of reading to do and switched my hands on lessons to nights." Sakura made a face at that, "She also told me to start practising my Taijutsu in my free time."

Ino laughed even as she grabbed her towel from the foot of her bed and started stripping down, starting with her sandals. "Free time? What free time?"

"Exactly."

"Madness."

Running a brush through her hair, Ino headed off to the showers. A quick wash later – she'd have a bath before bed – Ino dressed in a clean outfit, putting her hair back in twin pigtails and winding the bandages around her arms then headed downstairs following the smell of bacon.

She found Sakura humming over the stove-top.

"You being domestic now?" Ino asked as Sakura gestured for her to sit down. Ino grabbed a glass of orange juice before complying.

"You're letting me stay with you for a few days." Came the simple answer. "It's the least I can do - and your mother won't let me do it for her."

Ino let the matter drop. It would only make Sakura uncomfortable if she went on badgering her about it. Ino had more tact than that though and was planning to have a few words with Shizune-sensei about the situation before doing anything.

"Stay as long as you like." She said as Sakura set a plate down in front of her. "My parents don't mind." Her father had been dubious at first, but after seeing how little upkeep Sakura required had relented. And they weren't seeing enough of each other to get on each other's nerves.

Sakura looked unconvinced and Ino abandoned that topic in favor of eating. After several hours of training her first breakfast was long gone and food, especially warm food, was more than welcome. Normally Ino just grabbed a few granola bars and flung herself out the door. It helped that Sakura was a decent cook, even if she was totally helpless when it came to baking.

"What's your plans for the day?" Sakura asked her, sitting down across the table with a soft thump.

Ino swallowed and said, "Asuma-sensei said we'll have a mission, then I've got training with Shizune-sensei after it. Want to do some review tonight?"

"That'd be great." Sakura smiled, "I'm heading out after I do the dishes. There's a few things I need to pick up for my lessons."

Finishing her meal and downing her juice, Ino raced upstairs to brush her teeth. Then, with a cheerful thanks and a promise to talk more later, Ino headed out. The streets were busy, but not too crowded, and Ino stayed on the ground weaving her way through with well trained ease.

Turning down onto a quieter street after a bit, she picked up the pace. Even if she walked there was no way that she'd be late for the mission briefing but Ino wanted to make sure that she'd have time to stretch.

As she jogged, glasses staying firmly in place thanks to Hair Tie no Jutsu, Ino thought about her lessons. Shizune-sensei had wanted to start covering chakra-enhanced healing of broken bones soon, and had said something about an official test to check that her work was up to the required standards.

She was concentrating so hard that she nearly tripped with surprise when the dark form of an ANBU agent appeared in front of her with a burst of white smoke. As the smoke cleared, Ino could see that the agent was a woman – the skin tight uniform left no doubt of that! – with the mask of a dog.

"Yamanaka Ino," the ANBU said in a monotonous voice, "Hokage-sama wishes to see you."

* * *


	9. Chapter 6: Preparations

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 06 Preparations  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 6 of ? Unbeta'd. At last the mission starts to unfold. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up quicker. That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Ino stared at the ANBU for a long moment, almost certain that she'd misheard or something because it wasn't everyday that Genin were called before the Hokage _alone_. After a few seconds, and Ino realized that the woman wasn't planning to leave anytime soon Ino asked tentatively, "You're quite sure that she wants to see _me_?" 

The ANBU gave a short laugh, "Yes, of course."

Then, before Ino could do more than stammer her surprise - she'd met Tsunade-sama before, after all with the way that both Sakura and her were being trained in the hospital, and so often at nearly the same hours it was almost inevitable that they would meet - the ANBU turned and said, "Follow me."

Ino could only obey. No matter how ludicrous she thought this summons was - and she did because Ino knew she wasn't like Neji-san or even Naruto who had the talent to catch the Hokage's eye - there was no thought in her for disobeying. _That_ was a criminal offence. Tsunade-sama's word was law.

The ANBU flicked up onto the rooftops and Ino followed. They darted over the rooftops, heading not, as Ino had thought to the Administration Buildings, but rather in the direction of the Hokage Monument. _What would she be doing there?_ Ino wondered but keeping up with the pace that the ANBU set was hard work and she knew better than to voice a question that would only be a waste of breath. She'd find out in time.

ANBU-san didn't look like the sort to answer questions anyway.

They came to a stop outside of a small door set in the base of the Hokage Monument that had been painted red at some point in the past - the color was faded with time - and the only decoration on it was the presence of the Konoha leaf emblazoned on it in black. Ino gave the door only the merest glances, she was too caught up in trying to catch her breath while looking like she ran like that every day. Besides, the two cloaked and hooded ANBU guarding the door were far more interesting.

They were both tall. One had the mask of a cat and the other was a bird of some sort. Ino guessed from the way that they stood and the breadth of their shoulders that both of them were male.

"Permission to pass?" ANBU-san said sounding bored and resting her hands lightly on her hips.

The ANBU nodded and stepped, only slightly, to the side leaving just enough room for Ino and her ANBU escort to go through. Ino didn't see how the door opened, the ANBU blocked her view of it, and she hadn't seen any knobs or latches in her quick glance.

It was darker in the hall that they'd stepped into, and for a few minutes Ino saw little but as she adjusted to the lowered light - lanterns hanging from wall sconces - she realized that all around them was nothing but roughly hewn stone. _We're inside of the Monument..._ Ino thought, nearly stumbling when they came to a set of stairs that she hadn't noticed. Following the ANBU up, and up, and up, Ino wondered at the location. As they climbed, every thirty feet or so, there was a landing and two halls branched off from the stairs. Try as she might Ino wasn't able to discern anything about the halls.

_What does it mean?_ She wondered, noticing that slowly, but steadily, the light around them was growing. Ino had known that there were emergency tunnels behind the Hokage Monument - they were used in times when it was best to evacuate the civilians and the non-combatants - but she'd never considered that there might be more than that.

"What is this place?" Ino asked the silent ANBU in front of her as they came another landing. To her surprise, instead of continuing upwards, they turned left down another dim hall. This one was more refined, as if human hands had smoothed away the rough edges and in their place left a certain quiet elegance that was underscored by the dark carpet and smooth walls.

"It is one of many places." The ANBU said finally, after Ino had nearly given up hoping for an answer.

Ino frowned, what sort of response was that? She would have almost preferred it if the ANBU had remained silent instead of giving her a nonsense answer like that. There were two more ANBU, one with the mask of a spider, the other a dragon, guarding the door that they stopped outside of. Hunching her shoulders slightly, this many ANBU in the same location was starting to creep her out, Ino wondered if it was always like this around Hokage-sama and if the only difference was that they were letting her see them.

"Yamanaka Ino." Her ANBU said quietly, "Hokage-sama is expecting her."

Ino watched as the spider-masked ANBU slipped into the room so easily that she wasn't sure when he'd opened the door. Quick as a flash he was back and she was escorted in. Ino had a brief glimpse of a huge desk, Hokage-sama seated behind it, before the ANBU at her side fell into a quick bow and Ino copied her. _My, what nice carpet this room has_, Ino thought nervously.

"At ease, return to your quarters." Hokage-sama said with a wave of her hand, "Yamanaka-kun, have a seat."

Her ANBU straightened and flicked out of the room. Ino slowly took her chair, getting a good look at the room. It was circular, and along the stone walls hung the family crests of the Thirteen Clans that had helped found Konoha along with the Shodaime. She beamed inwardly at the sight of the Yamanaka crest, a boar rampant on a soft blue background with two feathers crossed over the boar. One feather was white, the other dark purple.

The Hokage sighed and Ino's attention snapped back onto her. "Yamanaka-kun, before I go any further I want to stress that this mission, yes it's a mission, is _entirely_ optional. If you turn it down no one will fault you. Do you understand?"

Ino nodded her head, her nerves increasing as her thoughts raced. _What kind of a mission is optional?_ "Yes, Hokage-sama."

"Alright then." Tsunade-sama held a folder out to her. Ino took it carefully and peeked inside. There were blueprints of a house, a large house, she noticed immediately. "You'll look through that later. Listen up."

Ino listened.

"This is a B class espionage mission." The Hokage told her sternly, "You are to go undercover to provide support for a more experienced shinobi. The rest of your team will act as back-up outside of the house – so if anything goes wrong, it'll be up to you to get to an area where they can help."

"What are we looking for?" Ino asked hesitantly, "And who will I be working with?"

"You'll be working with me." An unfamiliar voice behind her said cheerfully. Ino whipped around in her seat and found a dark haired woman with brown eyes leaning against the back wall nonchalantly. She wore the official Jounin uniform with a red hair ribbon being the only thing out of place.

"Inoue Amaya," Hokage-sama said sounding amused, "Please take a seat."

As the woman sauntered to the chair next to her, Ino eyed her warily. She couldn't remember having seen her around Konoha before – but that didn't mean much with how often higher ranked shinobi were out of the village for long periods of time.

Inoue smiled at her as she sat down, flicking her hair over the back of the chair. "A pleasure to be working with you, Yamanaka-kun."

* * *

When he wasn't off training with the kids or on missions for the Hokage there were only a few places that he was likely to be found hanging out at. One was the yakitori place near the Mission Center, one was his apartment, and the other was the largest of Konoha's indoor training pools. All shinobi above the rank of Genin were required to know how to swim. Many, of course, knew how before ever graduating but there were always a few that didn't. It was also used for physiotherapy exercises. 

This morning however, the pool was empty and Asuma was pleased to find it so. He always felt vaguely uncomfortable about swimming when there was a patient or two in the water. And the swimming classes that were ordered… well, the students tended to stare and that was just as bad.

Swimming a few laps to loosen his muscles, Asuma considered what to do with the situation that Kurenai had told him was going on under his nose. She'd laughed when he'd asked her, plaintively, what the hell was happening between Shikamaru and Ino after the joint spar.

"He's got a crush on the girl." Kurenai had told him finally, when she was done laughing, "You must be blind to have missed it."

"Shikamaru _likes_ Ino?"

"Hmm." She'd tapped her chin thoughtfully, "I'm not so sure that he knows though. Ino's completely unaware of it, from what I can tell, but then she's so focused on her studies lately…"

Asuma had agreed. If Ino had any sign that a boy liked her, Shikamaru or not, then he'd have heard _something_ about it. The number of adoring soliloquies that he'd heard extolling the virtues of Uchiha Sasuke…

Turning in the water to head back, Asuma caught sight of a masked and hooded ANBU waiting at the far side. A quick check confirmed that, yes, he was still the only one in the pool. Which meant that the ANBU had to be for him. Frowning, as he swam with deep powerful strokes designed to eat up distance, Asuma wondered what this was about. He hoped that it wasn't another mission – Ino and Shikamaru were just slowly getting back into some semblance of their old groove and he didn't want to strain that by having to leave Shikamaru in charge.

Stopping in front of the ANBU and treading water Asuma looked up and said, "Yeah? What do you want of me?"

"Sarutobi Asuma," the ANBU said in a rumbling baritone, "Hokage-sama requires your presence."

The look Asuma gave the man wasn't pleasant. He'd had the day planned out so nicely and now this… he'd never been summoned to the Hokage without some sort of shit hitting the fan. Hauling himself out of the pool, the grey tile of the floor was cold against his skin, making sure to splash water on the ANBU – yes it was childish and petty, but Asuma figured he was justified since his day had just been ruined – he toweled himself off quickly before scrambling into his dry clothes.

If things had gone the way that he'd wanted them to then Asuma would have spent the day working with Ino and Shikamaru on various teamwork exercises. Akimichi Chouza had requested, and received permission, to have the day to work with Chouji. Asuma had been fine with that – Chouji still had a lot of ground to cover to make up for the time that he'd lost while in recovery and the less Asuma had to do of it meant the more time that he had to spend on his other students.

The only thing that it had meant, with Chouji not being present for the team meet-up and training was that Asuma hadn't wanted to cover anything that Chouji would need to know and working a mission with one member of the team missing wasn't appealing.

Especially not since Chouji was still acting as a buffer for Shikamaru and Ino. They'd talked, Shikamaru had told him a few days ago, but it was obvious that they still had a few things to work through. He had hoped to give them a chance today.

With a shrug, there wasn't anything that would be accomplished by complaining about it now, Asuma followed the ANBU out of the pool. Once out of the mostly nondescript building, it was entirely unremarkable except for its size, the ANBU picked up the pace. Asuma matched him easily, stride for stride, as they headed past the Mission Center, and then…

He scowled as they headed for the Hokage Monument. There was only one place that Hokage-sama would be at there and it wasn't a place that Asuma was pleased at the thought of having to enter again. If she wanted him to… one hand reached up and brushed his other arm, knowing that if the cloth wasn't there then he'd be touching the scarlet spiral tattooed there.

Asuma had done it for two years, give or take a few months, back when he'd been young and stupid. Older now, and hopefully wiser, he had no inclination to take up the mask again. It had been bad enough the first time around.

Keeping his mouth shut – it wouldn't do any good to ask the ANBU escorting him, Asuma figured that his chances of getting an answer weren't high until he was in front of Hokage-sama. The sentries at the door let them through quickly and they headed up. He didn't bother to count the flights of stairs they climbed. Thanks to the area jutsu woven into the very rock of the Hokage Monument it was nearly impossible to keep track of where you were inside the mountain unless you were an active member of ANBU.

Eventually though they came to a landing and instead of continuing upwards they headed to the side. The ANBU halted in front of a door guarded by two more ANBU, no mere Chuunin would ever be allowed in this place.

"Sarutobi Asuma. Hokage-sama is expecting him."

One of the ANBU still checked with the Hokage Asuma was pleased to see. It was nice to know that standards of security were still as high as he'd remembered. "She'll see him."

The ANBU at his side vanished off down the hall and Asuma squared his shoulders and entered the room. It was a nicely appointed room with plush seating and dark blue carpet, Asuma though didn't bother to take in the scenery as his eyes fastened on Ino's slender form.

"Get her out of here." He snapped, furious enough that his hands shook and he suddenly wasn't craving a cigarette at all. "Right _now_."

"Asuma-sensei, I – " Ino started from her chair, eyes wide with trepidation.

The curvy woman who'd been seated in the chair beside Ino stood and gently gripped Ino's arm. His eyes narrowed at the contact. "Come along, Ino-kun." She said tugging his student towards the door, "There is much to discuss now."

Ino went with a nervous glance over her shoulder at him. Asuma waited until the door had closed before slamming his fist onto the desk that Tsunade-sama sat behind and asking, "What the _fuck_ are you doing with one of _my_ students in the ANBU _Headquarters_?"

The smile that his Hokage gave him was as cold as a winter sky, "Have a seat," she invited, "and we'll talk about that."

* * *

When Shikamaru showed up at the training ground a few minutes late, thanks to his mother nagging at him to eat something, he found it empty. _Did we decide to meet somewhere else? _Shikamaru wondered as he thought back. He shook his head. If they were supposed to meet at some other training ground then he couldn't remember Asuma-sensei saying anything about it to him. 

The fact remained however that the training area, with its hard packed ground, few hardy tufts of grass, and a row of battered training posts used for target practise, was empty but for himself. Unsure what to think of this unforeseen development, he wondered what he should do.

Leaning against a tree on the outskirts of the area Shikamaru considered the matter. If he was mistaken then no doubt they'd be along soon enough and Ino would scold him while Asuma-sensei grumbled about the delay. He didn't think he was mistaken though.

Which made the fact that he was the first to show up for training really, really weird. Especially when he knew that he had arrived late.

With a sigh, he scoured the area for any sign they'd been and gone already. Finding nothing more recent than yesterday's trail, Shikamaru resigned himself to waiting for Ino to show up. He supposed that it had to happen sometime, her sleeping in or something, and Asuma-sensei had been late a few times before – with good reason normally.

Shikamaru smiled faintly. He wasn't going to let Ino live down the fact that for once he'd shown up before her. Not after all the times that she'd harped about the importance of punctuality. Shikamaru didn't see why it mattered so much, after all, he showed up on time when it was important. The way he saw it, as long as he did that much, then everything else was allowed a little more flexibility.

A few minutes wasn't very much in the great scheme of things anyway. Settling down on the sparse grass beside a training post, he leaned his head back and stared up at the sky. A few straggly clouds were stretched across the sky, the last remnants of the sunrise staining them pale gold against a dark blue backdrop. His mother had been in fine, fiery form this morning, and to Shikamaru's dismay his father had taken the first opportunity to bail and had left him to face her alone.

Aunt Miyako hadn't been any help either. She'd come in halfway through his mother's tirade on how he had to start pulling his weight around the house a bit more now that he was a Chuunin, grabbed an apple and left. He'd heard her muffled laughter as she'd gone back up the stairs. He supposed that he should be grateful that she hadn't come around while his mother had been expounding on his lack of appetite lately.

By the time that his mother had let him go it had been too late to find his father and ask a few questions from his reading. One of the books had mentioned, vaguely, that there were several techniques, almost along the lines of jutsu, for dealing with the nightmares but a quick perusal through the other books his father had found for him hadn't turned up any of them.

In response to his irritation Shikamaru's shadow writhed against his skin. Sighing with exasperation – his shadow twitched again – Shikamaru attempted to think of something more positive.

Skipping over thoughts of his training in the Nara Clan jutsu, his shadow always seemed more reactive to external stimuli if he dwelled on it, he considered what Asuma-sensei had mentioned going over with Ino and him.

Chouji was definitely the luckiest of the three of them, he decided after a few minutes thought. While he and Ino were getting their act back together the fact remained that they'd been at odds long enough that even while being friendly towards one another their teamwork was off. They kept managing to do things just slightly out of sync, one or the other of them a step behind where they had to be…

There was no doubt that issue was what Asuma-sensei was going to want to cover during the training.

Shikamaru wondered what exercises Asuma-sensei would have them go through. He knew that the ones that they'd already covered were merely the tip of an iceberg. Just listening to his father's stories about when _he'd_ been Genin was enough to know that.

He occupied himself with further consideration of the matter at hand, and the next thing he knew, nearly an hour had passed and he was still the only one in the training ground. Sitting up, then standing and dusting his pants off, he scowled.

There was no way that both Ino and his sensei would be this late if something wasn't going on, and this was getting ridiculous. Deciding that the only thing to do was to go and find out what was happening, he left the clearing.

Shikamaru would bet that Ino would be the easier to track. For one thing, he wasn't sure where exactly Asuma-sensei lived which negated the easiest starting point of a search. Secondly, Ino might be a sneaky kunoichi, but she wasn't on par with the general level of sneakiness that a Jounin was capable of.

Besides, Yamanaka Mui liked him. He'd just have to make sure to ask her for help. That would be easier to get some information on Ino – Yamanaka Inoichi was more hot and cold and Shikamaru was never quite sure where he stood with the man. Which, he figured, was the way that Ino's father liked it.

There were days when Shikamaru wished that Ino hadn't taken quite so strongly after her father. It wasn't just in looks, though as both of her parents were blonde with blue eyes Ino resembled them both, but in attitude and the capacity to drive him up the wall… he hoped he didn't run into Yamanaka Inoichi.

Knowing though that there was no sense in putting it off, and he was going to have words with Asuma-sensei if training had been cancelled and no one had bothered to tell him, Shikamaru headed off.

_Ino's always such a pain,_ he thought crankily, _why do I even bother?_

* * *

Getting the specially treated senbon – they'd been soaked in an contact soporific - that Tsunade-shishou had ordered her to pick up before her evening lesson was a matter of minutes. Sakura was glad that, as the Hokage's apprentice and as a medical student besides, most of her supplies and texts were subsidized by the village. Otherwise the cost of supplying everything on a Genin salary would have been all but impossible. 

Now she just had to stop by the library and pick up a few books that Tsunade-shishou had arranged for her to read during her free time. Sakura wasn't sure what they'd be on because it had been heavily implied that these books weren't directly related to her medical education.

Passing by a pleasant house with a blue roof and cute yellow flowers in the windows Sakura was reminded that she still had to find someway to pay back the Yamanaka's. She'd offered to pay rent the first morning that she'd been left at the house after Ino had gone out for training and it had only been her and Yamanaka Mui left but had been told firmly that she wasn't to bother herself with it.

Sakura, knowing a lost cause when she saw one, had let the matter drop at the time. Now the matter came back to her and she mulled over it. There had to be a way for her to pay back the kindness of Ino's parents. It would be awhile before she was able to talk to her parents without feeling the same sense of futility that had possessed her the night she'd left. Swallowing harshly against the sudden lump in her throat, Sakura pressed on down the street, navigating with ease through the morning crowds.

Pausing at an intersection, Sakura stepped to the side so she wouldn't impede traffic, and rearranged her package. The cloth wrapping the senbon was a bit bulky in her arms and she hadn't thought that she'd need to bring a bag to help carry the supplies. The November air was cool on her face and the sky above her prophesied that it would be a lovely day. _Too bad that I'll be spending it inside_, Sakura thought ruefully, with a tinge of nostalgia for the old days with Team 7, _Never thought that I'd miss going out on D rank missions_.

She did miss it though, even while she knew that the training she was getting now was more useful than what she'd learned in nearly a year under Kakashi-sensei…

"Haruno-san?"

Sakura started, clutching the wrapped needles close as she spun around and found… Shikamaru? behind her. He looked mildly annoyed, but Sakura remembered well enough from class that Shikamaru almost always looked irritated. Especially when he had to do something.

"Can I help you, Nara-san?" Politeness was always a good thing, and Sakura couldn't say that she knew him well enough to be more familiar that that. She still hadn't found the time to give her thanks for going out to try and rescue Sasuke…

"Have you seen Ino?" He asked flatly.

"This morning?" Sakura looked at him in surprise, "We had breakfast together then she headed off to training."

He scowled at this and she just had to ask, "What's going on?"

"I'm the _only_ one that showed up for training." Shikamaru's voice left no doubt about how out of the ordinary that was. "I already checked at her house, and the shop. I was hoping maybe you…"

"Sorry I'm not more help." She offered when he trailed off. Sakura wasn't particularly worried, all things considered, since Ino was perfectly capable of taking care of herself, besides… "Not even your sensei showed up? Don't you think training was cancelled then?"

"I think someone might have told me." Shikamaru snapped back sardonically, "Don't you think?"

Sakura narrowed her eyes at him, there was no reason for him to be such a jerk to her when she'd just offered a reasonable suggestion. Before she could say anything to protest though he shook his head.

"Whatever, if you see Ino tell her I'm looking for her." He said curtly before turning away and leaving her standing opened-mouth, outrage cut off before it had found a voice.

"Geez," she muttered, deciding it wasn't worth it to chase after him and give him a piece of her mind, "Ino's side is making more sense all the time."

Stopping at the library, with its tall ceilings, dark floors, and long tables set neatly in rows, Sakura slipped quickly through the civilian area of the library and onto the shinobi section. She paid no attention to the doors marking the rank the visitor had to be to enter and simply approached main desk. Her face was well known to the Chuunin on duty on the shinobi side of the library and they fetched the books for her with little fanfare. Adding the books to her armful of senbon wasn't the easiest thing she'd ever done but Sakura thought she managed well enough as she headed back onto the civilian side of things.

As she left the building Sakura caught sight of a bulletin board. The words 'Now Hiring' caught her eye, a closer look proved that the ad was looking for people to help run a store that was opening up a few streets over. Shaking her head, what was she thinking? She had a job. Sakura left the building.

She was half way back to the Yamanaka's when the import of what she'd seen struck her. Now hiring, indeed! Ino had mentioned, just in passing, that her parents were finding it a bit challenging with her being so busy with training.

_Maybe,_ Sakura thought, _just maybe I can get Yamanaka-san to 'hire' me for as long as I stay at their place_.

That might be an amendable compromise Sakura hoped, thinking of Yamanaka Mui's deceptively soft eyes and voice. Ino's mother was a woman that wasn't easily swayed, but Sakura thought that this idea might be good enough for them both.

After all, a good deal was a good deal and paying off her debt by working in a flower-shop didn't seem so bad. Her mind made up, Sakura headed off to the Yamanaka's place with a renewed spring in her step.

Now she just had to make Mui-san see it from her side.

* * *

"Why can't I come too?" Choumaru asked plaintively as Chouji finished strapping on his sandals, "I don't want to go to the Academy." They were sitting on the wide front step of the sprawling ancient Akimichi home. The wood was dark underneath them and worn with time. 

"It's because you need to graduate first. You know that Dad's not going to teach much to you until you can prove to his satisfaction that your grip of the basics is adequate." Chouji said calmly, ruffling his bother's hair causing Choumaru to squirm out of the way. "And Dad's promised to train with you later."

That got him a pout, "We won't be doing anything interesting."

Chouji gave him a tolerant look – it hadn't been that long ago after all that he'd felt the same way, and there were days that he still felt like that, when it was taking longer than he hoped for to learn something new – so he repeated the advice that his father had told him, "You've got to get the basics down first. Or it'll just be harder to learn anything more advanced."

Choumaru looked unconvinced. Chouji sighed and let it go – he knew that his father would be have to tell him again, most likely later tonight, and a few hours wasn't going to make much of a difference.

"I don't think it's fair, just that because you're older than me Dad teaches you more."

He was saved from having to find some answer that wouldn't set his brother off more as behind them the sliding bamboo door opened and his father said in a stern but mildly amused voice, "Choumaru, haven't I made it clear that you aren't to bother your brother like that?"

"D-ad!"

There was a smile on his father's face when Chouji turned to look, "That's enough of that," Chouza said firmly, gazing at his youngest, "Shouldn't you be getting ready for classes? Your mother won't like it if you're late, again." His father switched his gaze to look at him, "Are you ready to go, Chouji?"

Dusting his pants off Chouji stood up with a smile as his father came down the few steps. Choumaru made a face and disappeared into the house to grab his things for class. "I've been waiting for you."

That got him a chuckle as they exited the compound through the over-sized gates of wrought iron emblazoned with the Akimichi Clan symbol, "I'm getting slow in my old age, huh?"

Chouji didn't dignify that with an answer. Not when every time they were on the training ground his father could dance circles around him with surprising grace. They were heading towards the outskirts of Konoha, to a rocky desolate area that had been in the possession of the Akimichi Clan since the days of Konoha's founding. As one of the thirteen founding Clans of the village they'd been given the privilege of choosing an area to train on exclusively. Some Clans, like the Yamanaka's had refused the chance, citing that their family didn't require a place to train thanks to their Clan specialty.

Over the years, he knew from hearing his dad talk about it, the Yamanaka Clan had become less reliant on long range techniques thanks to the Great Shinobi Wars forcing them to come up with more effective all out battle techniques, and the gradual change in fighting style had required them to acquire a training area.

"Dad?" Chouji asked once they'd turned down a back alley, shaded with trees heavy with wide leaves and the scent of flowers heavy on the wind, "Do you know what Ino is training on?"

His father slowed his pace to look down at him, and when he spoke his voice was mildly chastising, "Have you asked her about it?"

"I haven't really had a chance," Chouji admitted sheepishly, "She's gotten great at avoiding things she doesn't want to talk about."

Chouza sighed, "If she doesn't feel like talking about it then it's not really something that I feel comfortable breaking confidence. The secrets will pass in time, I can assure you of that, Ino's father pulled something similar when we were around your age. Though," he said thoughtfully, "it's still nearly impossible to pry something out of Inoichi if he doesn't feel like talking."

That didn't sound like a good thing to Chouji. The last thing Team 10 needed was an Ino who kept her own counsel even better than she already had been lately. Then he tried to picture his dad at thirteen and found it was all but impossible. To him, his dad had always been grown up, and the idea that it had been otherwise was unsettling.

Knowing that it would do no good to pursue that line of questioning, not when his dad spoke in that sort of mild voice, Chouji changed the subject. "What are we covering today, Dad?" His dad had merely mentioned something of a new jutsu last night, but had remained otherwise closed mouthed after Choumaru had started paying attention to the conversation.

"Doton: Doryuu Taiga no Jutsu. Your mastery of Baika no Jutsu and Nikudan no Jutsu is coming along nicely, but it's foolish to restrict your learning merely to Clan techniques." His father smiled down at him, "And Akimichi Clan has always been skilled at Doton techniques. Tell me, what sort techniques would you say your teammates are the best at?"

"Shadow for Shikamaru," Chouji said immediately, that one was a no-brainer, "and possibly Doton as well."

"What of Ino-chan?"

His father's face showed no clues about what he was thinking, so Chouji foraged on as best he could. Ino was harder to pin down. He thought of the Katon jutsu that she'd slung at Shikamaru and said slowly, "Katon – she always learns those fairly quick." It was a good fit, temperament-wise too. Another thought occurred to him, "and Suiton…"

A quick glance up showed that his father was smiling faintly, "Explain your reasoning to me." He said encouragingly.

"Well… water traditionally is known the best for both giving life with one hand and taking it back with the other. Katon is more purely destructive, and Doton mostly defensive, and neither Fuuton or Raiton seem like they'd suit her. Ino is gentle when the situation calls for but mostly it's because she's relentless when she's made up her mind to go after something." Chouji said as his father ran his hands through seals too fast to see then pressed his large hands to the gates of their training area. The gates rose tall in the air, made of heavy steel frames and solid wood. A small panel, Chouji knew, was able to move so that they could converse temporarily with someone on the other side of the gate. "She tends to get what she wants, too." He added, "Wearing down the opposition through pure tenacity."

Chouza laughed as he pushed the gates open and Chouji slipped in under his arm and onto the rocky area. The ground dipped as they headed further in forming a shallow in the landscape and giving the impression of more space than was really there.

"Doton: Doryuu Taiga is a variable rank ninjutsu." His dad began, gesturing for Chouji to sit, "In essence it creates a brief flow of mud designed to simultaneously push an opponent away while upsetting their bearings enough to give the user time to take advantage of the effect."

It sounded fairly simple so far, Chouji asked when his dad paused, "Why is it a variable rank?"

"Because the further away from soft ground, or a water source, the harder using chakra to form the mud becomes. Under optimal conditions, and we'll talk more later about how to create better conditions no matter what your situation, Doryuu Taiga no Jutsu isn't higher than a C rank jutsu." His father's eyes crinkled as he smiled, "Something that is well within your capacity to handle."

Chouji beamed and they set to work. His father lectured him for a while longer on the theory before they moved on to the proper hand seals. When he had the seals down, they spent a good fifteen minutes just having him practise doing the seals as quickly as he could without messing up.

"Good." His dad said finally, "We'll have you give it a go running chakra though – " Chouji watched as his dad cut off suddenly, a frown creasing his face.

"What is it?"

"You remembered to tell Shikamaru that you weren't coming to training, right?"

"Yes – "

"Because he's standing outside the gates radiating profound irritation." His father continued, "Take a break and go see what he wants."

Chouji didn't need to be told twice. It was the matter of a few minutes to cross the training ground and up the short path to the gates. Shifting the panel so that he could see through to the other side he wasn't surprise to find Shikamaru staring right back at him.

"Took you long enough." Shikamaru snapped.

"I _told_ you I was training today." Chouji said, taking in the way that Shikamaru's body was taut with tension, "What are you doing here?"

At the mention of training Shikamaru's face twisted, "I know that. I'm here because you're the only one I can find."

"What?"

"I'm the _only_ one that showed up for training, and I can't find Ino or Asuma-sensei anywhere."

Chouji thought about that for a moment, then said quietly, "Wait there, I'll go talk to my dad."

* * *

Ino barely remembered the trip home. One moment she was being escorted out of the Hokage Monument by Amaya-san and the next she found herself walking up her street. Her mind whirled with excitement as Ino began working out exactly how to apply all of her old knowledge to her first practical test of skills. 

This was more important by far than Academy exams. Amaya-san had told her repeatedly that it would be dangerous if they were caught. Ino tugged on one of her braids absently. They'd decided to dye her hair later that night. It was a more of a risk than if they waited and did it when they stopped over in Shimonoseki – and Ino didn't doubt Amaya-san's word that there were foreign nin watching – but the older kunoichi had decided after thinking it over that it was best.

Ino knew it was to give her more time to get used to the change. Being startled by her own hair, if she passed a mirror unexpectedly or if someone complimented her on the shade, would be more obvious than a dark haired girl leaving the village.

"Kawano Junko." Ino murmured quietly as she slipped around an older woman clutching a fresh bouquet. "That's who I've got to be."

The name was cute, at least. And the persona she was to use wasn't so far off from her usual temperament that it would be unduly difficult. Just a bit quieter, a little more restrained, and far shyer than she'd ever been. It reminded her of Hinata and Ino frowned when she realized that the mission was going to make putting together a sleepover take longer than she'd thought.

She'd have to make her excuses to Sakura as well – Ino wasn't going to have time to go over and review the things they were learning tonight. Not between practising her taijutsu, since she wasn't going to be able to take any weapons with her, and getting her hair done. Amaya-san had also mentioned picking out the clothing that they'd need and Ino had no idea how long that would take.

Peeking in the windows of her parents shop, and seeing that it was busy, Ino quickly decided to go around back. If she went in the front then she'd be roped into working a few hours and since it was already past noon – had her briefing really taken that long? – Ino didn't want to lose the time.

Maybe she'd be able to get her father to give her one last lesson before she went. No matter how busy it was he was forbidden to work in the shop. The reason why was something that her parents had never told her. Every time she asked her mother looked irate and her father sheepish.

So caught up in her thoughts, Ino climbed the doorsteps absently and nearly crashed right into Sakura who'd just been leaving.

"What are you doing home?" Sakura asked with surprise, "Shikamaru was looking for you - I thought you had a mission?" This was said with a questioning lilt in her voice.

Ino bit back a laugh – this was some mission! – and merely said, "We do, we leave tomorrow morning."

"Asuma-sensei gave you the day off to prepare?" Her friend said enviously, "Kakashi-sensei never did, it was just 'Come on you three, we're heading out for the next week or two!' with nothing but what we had on us."

That made her smile. "Something like that, forehead."

Sakura bristled slightly and Ino was pleased to see it. She'd been a bit down for the last while and, not that Ino could blame her, but it was nice to see her being more spirited. Whatever her mother had said to her had seemed to help. "I told you not to call me that, Ino-pig!"

"Whatever, whatever." Ino said with a shrug, even though her eyes narrowed at the name,

"Anyway, I'm not going to be able to do review like I said. Take a rain check on it?"

"No problem." Sakura said, "There's always a chance of one of us being sent out for awhile. Anyway, I've got to go – Tsunade-shishou wants me to review a few things at the hospital before training."

"Have fun."

"Ha ha." Sakura headed down the steps as Ino pulled the door open, "I'll see you tonight probably, but if I don't or you're already asleep when I get in, then good luck on the mission."

"Right back at you." Ino watched for a moment as Sakura turned and headed down the street before shaking her head and entering her house. A peek into the living room as she passed on the way upstairs proved that her father was the living room, reading a scroll.

She didn't stop to talk to him other than a quick hello before scampering to her room. Packing what little she could take was more important, and Ino knew that look on his face and was sure that he wouldn't be going anywhere for a good while.

It took her a little longer than she'd hoped to pack – Sakura's presence in her room was becoming more pronounced and while Ino didn't really mind considering the circumstances it did mean that her room was more cluttered than normal. She managed though.

Pleased with herself, and leaving her packed bag on her bed, Ino wandered downstairs and grabbed a glass of water before heading to the living room. As she'd thought, her father was still seated in his armchair, a small frown on his face as he read.

"Hey, princess." He smiled as he looked up at her, half rolling the scroll up, "What's got you home so early?"

Ino kissed him on the cheek and leaned against one side of the chair. She didn't try to peek at what he'd been reading – he'd broken her of that habit before she'd started at the Academy – and Ino knew that it wouldn't do her any good to ask what it was so she shoved her curiosity from her mind. "Got a mission tomorrow."

"Oh?" Her father looked up at her, snaking one arm around her waist, "It's not like your sensei to give you the whole day off. What's this mission like?"

Ino beamed at him, knowing that as a Jounin of Konoha, he'd understand, "I can't tell you that."

He went still for a moment as what she'd said hit him then pride blazed from his eyes and he hugged her tightly. A tug of his arms around her waist had Ino slipping over the side of the chair to land in his lap. She squeaked as he kissed her on the crown of her head. Missions B rank and higher weren't to be discussed except vaguely before they occurred, even amongst other shinobi, "Do your best, princess."

"I will." Ino promised, resting her head against his chest and listening to the comforting sound of her father's heart beat, "I'll make you proud."

* * *

Chouji watched quietly as Shikamaru paced in front of him. Five steps to the left, sharp turn, five steps to the right, and turn back to start the pattern all over again. He'd tuned out what Shikamaru was saying a few minutes ago, when they'd gotten back to the training area and found it still empty. Shikamaru had a tendency to repeat himself when he was upset and while Chouji would be willing to bet that his friend would deny it vehemently it was obvious that he was. 

For his part Chouji was mostly irritated with a mild dash of worry - because, really, this wasn't like Ino at all - but that the same time he couldn't help but think that Shikamaru was over-reacting. Alright, so they hadn't found her at the hospital, and he still didn't know why Shikamaru had insisted on checking there, nor had she been at the library, by the river, or in the greenhouses where she went to brood sometimes.

It made more sense though, he felt, to assume that where ever Asuma-sensei was, then Ino was probably with him. Shikamaru hadn't said it out right, but Chouji had grown used to reading between the lines and guessed that his friend had shown up a few minutes late to training again. Perhaps they'd gone off without him?

He doubted it frankly, it wasn't like Asuma-sensei to do that to any of them, but when he'd voiced the thought, Shikamaru had snapped at him for even suggesting it. Now he was mostly watching Shikamaru just to make sure nothing happened to him, and waiting for him to come up with the next step in the search.

Chouji felt bad for thinking it, but there was a part of him that wished Ino and Asuma-sensei had picked a different day to disappear and send Shikamaru to distraction. His father had barely started showing him the newest technique when he'd been whisked off, and while Chouji didn't exactly blame Shikamaru for it - he'd probably have done the same had the situation been reversed - Chouji couldn't help but think that it was some awful timing.

How was he supposed to get better when something came up every time he went to train? Not that Chouji was going to say anything to that effect, but really. The one day that his father got Asuma-sensei's permission to excuse him from team training and this was what ended up happening?

"We could check her house again?" Chouji suggested half-heartedly already knowing the answer he'd get. "Maybe she's stopped by."

"What's the point?" Shikamaru retorted, pausing in his pacing to face him, "I've checked twice already and she'd not there. All Haruno had to say was that they'd had breakfast together and Ino had headed out for training."

"Did you ask her what time?" Chouji asked logically, "That might give us a better timeframe for what actually happened to her between breakfast and not showing up for training. Maybe she got roped into helping the kunoichi sensei at the Academy again." It had happened a time or two in the last while. Asuma-sensei had made a face but let it go the first time it had happened. After the second time Asuma-sensei had pulled Ino aside and they'd spoken about it in quiet voices for a few minutes.

Since then, Ino had been winding up at the Academy once every two weeks or so. Chouji wasn't sure what she did there, besides teach, because the one time he'd ventured a question it had been in the presence of Shikamaru and as Ino hadn't been talking to him at the time… he hadn't really gotten an answer. He'd have to remember to ask her again not that both of them had managed to work out at least some of their differences. Chouji wasn't fool enough to think that it was all right between them – after all, Shikamaru still watched Ino like a hawk while they were in practise, and Ino still wasn't telling them everything that was going on with her training – but it was better by far than when they'd been not talking to each other.

Shikamaru frowned, but Chouji was glad to see that this wasn't directed at him, but rather at the thought, "Since Asuma-sensei talked to her about it though, she's been pretty good about telling us the day before that she'll have to leave early, or start late."

"We should probably check anyway." Chouji suggested, already turning to head in that direction, glad for something to do that would keep Shikamaru's mind occupied from coming up with dire situations and ways to express his displeasure in about equal proportion. "Just to be sure."

His friend fell into place beside him, feet scuffing at the grass and the small rocks on the path, "I suppose…" Shikamaru said dubiously, "It just doesn't feel right – Ino's normally asked over there on a Friday and it's Tuesday today. The pattern is off."

Chouji didn't care about the pattern, but he made encouraging noises in the back of his throat anyway as they headed out of the training area, half listening to Shikamaru talk about the probability of Ino's presence at the Academy.

He mostly figured that there had been a miscommunication somewhere along the line and it was just Shikamaru's luck to wind up with the short end of the stick. If there'd been any sort of incident then they would have been alerted right away, right?, and Ino hadn't yet made any enemies on an international scale. Most Genin didn't, though it happened sometimes during a war.

They moved without undue haste, though Chouji could see that Shikamaru wanted to move faster – which was stranger than Asuma-sensei not showing up to teach really – and he was just as happy with that. It was a nice day, though the wind was a bit brisk, and he wished that he wasn't having to do this.

Ino would turn up, he was quite sure of that. Asuma-sensei might have gotten called out on a mission. Irritating yes, but nothing spectacularly out of the ordinary. Chouji didn't see why this was such a big deal.

"Where are you two going?" Asuma-sensei's voice called out behind them.

They turned as one to find their missing sensei standing not two meters away with a cigarette in his mouth and hands shoved in his pockets.

"Where's Ino?" Shikamaru demanded immediately, "Nothing's wrong is it?"

"Nah, she's fine," Asuma-sensei said, a glint of amusement in his eyes, "We've got a mission that's all and she's got some extra preparations to make. Get back to the training area and I'll brief you on what's going on."

"When do we leave?" Chouji asked as the tension in Shikamaru's shoulders visibly relaxed, wondering if there would be time for him to fit in some training with his father.

The look Asuma-sensei gave him was rueful, "Tomorrow, at dawn. Sorry Chouji, I know you wanted to have time to train, I'll make it up to you and your dad when we get back."

Chouji nodded, there wasn't much else they _could_ do when it came to missions. "Yes, Asuma-sensei."

* * *

They left before dawn had even begun to kiss the horizon. 

Ino had kissed her mother for luck, and her father had hugged her fiercely and murmured that he was proud of her before letting her go. Sakura had still been sleeping - they'd said their goodbyes the night before.

The cool air was refreshing as she trotted to the western gate. Amaya-san had come by yesterday evening and taken her pack. All that Ino carried on her were the basics that every shinobi on active duty was required to have at all times. Twelve kunai, some light trap wire, a few senbon... that was all. No explosive notes, no smoke bombs… Ino shivered as she turned the corner and headed down another street.

If she felt naked now though, it was going to be nothing to what would happen once they left Shimonoseki for Aomori-shi. Ino knew that Amaya-san would undoubtedly be carrying weapons - but anything that could even hope to pass scrutiny Ino wasn't permitted to carry. Konoha laws prohibited civilians and shinobi without the proper licensing from owning and using weapons meant purely for undercover work. Regular concealment as part of a shinobi uniform was one thing, it was quite another though to pretend to be a civilian while carrying weapons. The license wasn't all that hard to get, if you were a shinobi, but it did take a few days for the paperwork to go through and they hadn't the time to wait.

Her hair was bound tightly in twin braids, one on either side of her head, and Ino was glad for that. The change in color was jarring - her skin tone wasn't so bad, after all, Ino had been tanned before - but her hair and the gentle wave that Amaya-san had added to it was a bit off putting.

Ducking around a shopkeeper who was setting up, Ino spotted a familiar back turning down the next street. Putting on a bit of extra speed, she turned the corner and called, "Shikamaru!"

He looked back over his shoulder, and his eyes widened as she came to a stop in front of him. "What happened to your _hair_?" Shikamaru asked, sounding appalled.

Ino was pleased he agreed that brown, even the pretty shade of it that Amaya-san had picked out for her, wasn't her color. "For the mission." She said simply, as they headed towards the gate, "My regular color is too eye-catching."

Shikamaru nodded, still not looking pleased. Reaching the gate, which towered over them in the looming darkness, Ino was surprised to see that they were the first there. "It was easier too, for me to go dark than for Amaya-san to go light."

A brown-haired kunoichi was a far commoner sight than a blonde one after all. Her father had mentioned that he still had similar problems depending on his missions, and more than once Ino had come home from the Academy to find him with his hair a different color.

She was glad that there were lanterns around, the warmth of them helped sooth her nerves. Ino moved closer to Shikamaru as surreptitiously as she could, taking comfort from his presence. If he noticed how antsy she was - what if she failed and let everyone down? - he didn't say anything.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" He asked her abruptly a few minutes later, "If something goes wrong..."

"If something goes wrong you'll be there to back me up." Ino said evenly, a bit touched by the worry reflected in his eyes. "I already accepted the mission anyway - do you want me to get a black mark on my record?"

He sighed. "Forget it. Just be careful."

It wasn't rousing encouragement, or a firm belief in her abilities. Ino thought, as she looked away feeling flushed all of a sudden, but she felt that it was enough that Shikamaru wasn't going to tell her she shouldn't take the mission. She knew, could tell, that he thought it was a stupid thing for her to do.

That he let her go and do it anyway... Ino beamed and heard him snort his amusement.

Ino was still beaming when Asuma-sensei and Amaya-san showed up a few minutes later, Chouji coming behind them. She was confused, a bit, by the lack of supplies they carried with them though. The pack that she'd given Amaya-san was no where to be found.

"Where's everything we're going to need?" Ino asked her sensei as Shikamaru went to talk to Chouji.

"It's been sent on ahead." Asuma-sensei told her as he made sure that they were all ready. Nobody was missing anything so he gave the signal to the Chuunin guarding the gate from above. Slowly the gates began to open, the creaking of the wood sounding unbearably loud in the early morning air.

"Come on, Junko-chan." Amaya-san said in a cheerful voice, as she slipped through the open gates like a whisper on the wind, Asuma-sensei followed her, "It's time to go."

"Coming, Nee-san." she said as left Konoha, Shikamaru and Chouji close behind her, "I'm coming."

* * *


	10. Chapter 7: Misinformed

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 07 Misinformed  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 7 of ? Unbeta'd. Sorry 'bout the delay, seriously, but RL was kicking me hard. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up quicker. But no promises! That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Winter rain sheeted down, the sky so black that it was almost as if night had come early. It was a day for staying inside and keeping warm if you could. For all of that though the city remained bustling and she was glad that she'd left Ino-kun back at the manor while she went to report. 

No doubt Ino-kun was already more than busy with keeping Hoshi-sama and her daughters occupied. Amaya, bundled up in a heavy-duty raincoat – and to the ordinary eyes just another poor soul that had to be outside today – had been sent out retrieve a delivery for Hoshi-sama. She'd get it on her way back. If she'd really been a servant then there was no way that she'd have made it to the shop in only a few minutes.

This gave her the chance to report.

One advantage to having a mission in the city was that the back-up got to stay in hotels. Darting down a narrow street, Amaya looked up and smiled faintly at the sight of a candle sitting lit in the window she'd been told to look for. A quick glance around proved that the street was empty for the moment, and she was up the wall in a flash to rap in a predetermined sequence on the window.

She finished, and waited. Hands on the inside moved the candle to the side, and the window opened with the snick of a lock that she could not hear but knew was there. Amaya was pleased with the way that Asuma was training his team. Patience was something that got neglected far too often in Genin training.

It was Asuma on the other side of the window, she could tell by his silhouette – there was no hiding that bulky frame of his when compared to his kids. A quick exchange of keywords and the window was opened only long enough for her to slip inside.

Blinking at the sudden warmth, she pushed her hood down as Asuma re-latched the window behind her. The Nara kid glanced at her from where he leaned against the wall, and around him shadows pooled too deeply to be just the room, then at the window.

"Junko didn't come?"

She shook her hair out, stripping off the gloves and outer cloak setting both near the fireplace to dry and letting Asuma answer. This? Was not her business.

"It wouldn't be prudent." Asuma said, shaking his head as he moved to take a seat on one of the beds, gesturing for her to take a chair. "She's much too visible."

Amaya had to crack a smile at that. Ino-kun certainly did have a knack for making friends quickly. They'd been on the job for ten days and Hoshi-sama's youngest daughter, Aiko, had taken to her so much that Hoshi had generously gifted Ino-kun to the young girl as her personal maidservant. It was luck. Yamanaka luck. She'd seen it happen with Ino-kun's father as well. So often it would happen, and they were always quick to take advantage of it. Good ninja.

It was a shame the clan was so small.

The Nara boy crossed his arms and said nothing. It didn't take skill though to read that from the line of his jaw and the set of his shoulders that he was unhappy about it. There was a soft pattern of knocks that came from the door and she tensed while both the others looked up.

After a moment, the pattern was repeated again, and the Nara boy moved for the door. There was a murmured conference, more keywords most likely, and then Asuma's third kid was in the room.

"It's clear, far as I can tell, Asuma-sensei." The Akimichi said, pulling off a soaked cloak much the same as hers, "I checked the perimeter twice over just to make sure."

"Good," he was told, "sit down and dry off. We'll be heading out in a few hours for patrol around the house."

"One of us should be there," the Nara said, "she's all by herself."

Amaya shook her hair out. "She'll be fine. There's no one there, even if they might target her, who'd go after her while she's attending the little lady." There were also several ANBU agents who were keeping a close eye on the situation. "It's only for an hour."

"Leave it, Shikamaru." Chouji said, when the other boy still looked about to speak. "It's all on orders."

That sounded like it had been said before, and often. She glanced at Asuma, eyebrows faintly raised and tilted her head at the boys. Asuma rolled his eyes at her and mouthed 'crush' before shaking his head.

She nodded, both amused and concerned. No wonder that they were having teamwork troubles then.

"That's enough of that, you two." Asuma said sharply, "Amaya-san's on limited time, stop wasting it."

She bit down a smile as both the boys straighten under the sternness lacing Asuma's voice. It wouldn't be appreciated, and she had no wish to draw this out longer than she had to. After all, for all her protestations that Ino-kun was perfectly safe things could turn upside down and deadly in a matter of seconds.

Especially if what she suspected about the guards was right. The ANBU watching over Ino-kun were a relief, but it was always better on the nerves to be present herself.

"So far," she began, "little as been uncovered as to the daimyo's true motives. It is difficult to say whether he is merely stupid - or far more dangerous than that, and a traitor to the country..."

Amaya continued on, detailing the ways that both she and Ino-kun had been working on integrating themselves into the daily bustle of life and gaining the trust of people.

When she was done, both boys were looking thoughtful and she signaled for Asuma to dismiss them. There were some things that she wasn't going to discuss with them - not when they didn't know the truth about the mission. Her suspicions were one of those things.

"Shikamaru, Chouji, go and scout the perimeter again." Asuma said abruptly, startling both boys into movement. "Be thorough."

Amaya waited five minutes after they'd gone before turning and looking at Asuma. "We've got a potential problem on our hands."

He was fingering an unlit cigarette. "I figured. You were too serious. What is it?"

"The shinobi he's got guarding him." Amaya shook her head, "Intelligence said no more than Chuunin." Her eyes narrowed. "They're more than that. Good actors," she admitted, "but _too_ good. They're hitting every enemy Jounin alarm I've got. Experienced Jounin. I'd bank on them being Jounin for at least a few years."

Asuma swore, crumpling the cigarette. "And Ino?"

"She hasn't been noticed." Amaya said, "But Ino-kun has also been very wise and stayed as far from them as she can without arousing suspicions. I've encouraged this--" by acting as Junko-chan's big sister and warning her off the loose ways of shinobi "--and she's taken it to heart. Most of her time, besides, is spent with the children. If she falls under suspicion it won't be hard to defuse."

He was rubbing his forehead, "There's nothing we can do at the moment, is there?"

"No." She told him, "But I thought you should know. We're safe at the moment, but you and your boys will have to be extremely careful -- they'll be looking for outside sources of danger. Less so from the inside. Ino-kun's youth is proving valuable, they know that if this mission were taken what rank it would be. Children are not often sent out these days."

"They're lucky for that." Asuma said, "Even if they'd disagree. Anything else I need to know?"

She shook her head, pulling her damp cloak back on and checking the window. "That's all. Keep an eye out, and tell the boys whatever you see fit." That was a bit of an interesting dilemma for him, she knew. "Though it might be safer if they know less."

Less chance of them giving anything away under torture.

"I'll consider it." Asuma said, "You should go before you're missed."

"In this weather?" Amaya laughed softly, "They won't be expecting me for a while yet -- and when I get back I'll be praised for my fortitude."

"It's only rain."

"To you and I, perhaps." She laughed, and was out the window.

* * *

The wooden halls of the place were slowly coming to life as everyone went about their business of getting ready for the day ahead of them. Down one hall a brown haired girl, dressed neatly and with the bright-eyed look of someone who'd been up for a few hours already, walked quickly clearly heading towards the wing of the building that the daimyo and his family lived. 

She was fussing with her hair, then, throwing up her hands in disgust Ino ducked into an alcove for a moment, hands reaching up impatiently to fix her hair. Again. Wisps of brown dyed hair kept escaping, no matter what she did, from her ponytail and it was driving her nuts.

Quickly redoing her hair as best she could, Ino slipped out of the alcove and headed down the hallway towards her destination. Knocking on the sliding screen to announce her presence, she slipped inside the room at the cheerful call for her to come in.

"Junko-san!" There was the patter of small feet and then Aiko, only eight and cute as a button, with big dark eyes and a grin that took up half her face, was there and flinging her arms around her.

"Aiko-sama," Ino said with a laugh, smoothing back the girl's soft black hair, "a good morning to you as well."

The girl grinned up at her then, stepping back, asked, "What are we doing today, Junko-san?"

Ino half-kneeled so she could match the younger girl's height, then said, "Today, we're going to be helping Hoshi-sama with the preparations for tonight's dinner. It'll be fun, don't you agree?" She'd already been give her orders for the day by Yoriko-san, who'd found her while she'd been eating breakfast in the servants hall.

Aiko nodded, "Okaa-sama said that Ritsuko-san is coming. I can't wait!"

"Well, we'll make the time go by fast by working hard," Ino said with a laugh, "come on, lets finish getting you dressed and we'll go see what Hoshi-sama has for us to do."

Getting the girl dressed neatly, and doing up Aiko's hair into twin braids that bounced on the little girl's shoulders as she walked, Ino lead Aiko out of the room. The little girl spent the time chattering brightly about nothing in particular with Ino grinning and answering back whenever it seemed like she was expected to answer. Which wasn't very often, really. Aiko was perfectly happy just to keep up a stream of one-sided conversation.

As they headed down the hallways and through the rooms of the house, heading towards the banquet hall, Ino walked three paces behind Aiko, as was proper, even though Aiko had a tendency to move around enough that it wasn't always easy to tell that she was being proper. Other servants and various guests of the daimyo bowed at Aiko's passing and the little girl grinned and greeted those she noticed with merry hellos.

They found the lady of the house standing imperiously in the banquet hall and directing scurrying servants to set things out the way she wanted them to be. Hoshi-sama was a tall, slim woman with blue eyes and the same black hair as her daughter.

"Okaa-sama!" Aiko called, darting with arms out-stretched towards her mother for a hug. Ino hung back, and bowed deeply to Hoshi-sama. "Junko-san said we're to help you today!"

"And so you will be, little lady." Hoshi said warmly, one arm slipping around Aiko's shoulders, "There is plenty to be done."

So there was. But the company was good and Ino chattered cheerfully with Mai and Sachiko as they worked to clean the room so that it would be sparkling and up to Hoshi-sama's high standards.

"I heard," Sachiko said dreamily as they worked at scrubbing the silver, "that there's going to be more ninja here tonight." Ino glanced up, curious.

"Oh, I hope they're as cute as the one's guarding Benjiro-sama," Mai giggled, "because they could guard _my_ body anytime."

"Because being guarded is what you're interested in, of course." Ino added, with a grin and all three of them dissolved into giggles. Behind her laughter though, she was making note to tell Amaya-san the moment she saw her next.

Already she'd found out that Amaya-san had been sent down to the village. "Poor thing," Sachiko had sighed, "she'll get sick for sure. You'd better take good care of your sister, Junko-chan." Ino had bobbed her head and promised she would do her best.

After scrubbing the silver until it sparkled, while Hoshi-sama and Aiko, her small face very earnest, discussed the ways of laying out the tables so as not to be sitting enemies next to each other. Though, from what Ino understood, there were times when that was desirable. But never by mistake.

"Junko-chan," Yoriko-san, one of the older servants said shortly after that, "we've run out of linens to fold for the napkins. Can you go and fetch some more? There should be some in the dry room near the guest quarters."

"I'll go right away," Ino nodded, glancing up to make sure Aiko didn't mind. The little girl had hardly noticed and just grinned when Ino caught her eye. Taking that as permission, she stood, leaving her scrub brush in the bucket of soapy water and slipping out of the room.

The dry room, the dry room… she took a left as she exited the hall and headed toward the guest quarters. There were times when she wished the place wasn't so big, but it did, she had to admit, make for an interesting house to work in. Though Ino was glad she wouldn't be doing it forever. Menial work for a mission? No problem! For a living? Not a chance.

As she entered the guest wing, Ino spotted one of the Chuunin that the daimyo had hired to protect him. She bowed as he passed. A part of her thought that he was cute, with his dark green hair and matching eyes, but the fact that he wore an Iwa forehead protector was a very good deterrent. Ino knew her history; there was no way she'd ever get involved with an Iwa ninja unless it was demanded of her for a mission.

Turning down the hall he'd just come from, Ino eyed the closet she was supposed to be getting the requested linens from, then tilted her head to glance at the door to the suite of rooms that had been assigned the Iwa ninja for the duration of their stay. If she'd just passed one, and the other, she knew for sure, was guarding the daimyo as he worked, then that meant the room was empty…

Weighing the risks quickly, Ino checked the hall to make sure no one was there, and peeked around the corner for good measure to ascertain that no one was coming right away before casually, oh so casually, slipping across the hall and into the suite.

A quick glance around the first room showed that it hardly looked lived in. Not really a surprise Ino knew, shinobi didn't tend to unpack much while on a mission. Because what if they had to make a quick getaway? It was just easier not to bring much, and not to unpack what they did bring.

The second room showed more promise. A shirt was casually left on the bed, and a few scattered books were on the desk. A glance at them proved it wasn't anything more interesting than some rather… risqué… poetry. She blushed slightly, and continued her survey of the rooms.

Did she dare go through their things? Ino had to make up her mind quickly. There was no telling when one of them would return here and there was utterly no reason for her to be in these rooms. If she was caught, there wouldn't be a good enough excuse to keep them happy.

On the other hand… this was the first time they'd had a chance to get into these rooms. Amaya-san had mentioned it several times that there was always one of them, every time she checked, already in the room.

This was a chance then, that she had to take. Ino quickly located their bags, and started going through them with a careful eye for any traps or poisons meant to deter people from doing exactly what she was doing.

Exploding tags, bandages, soldier pills – a different colour than Konoha's and Ino wondered if they were as effective – extra scrolls…

In an inside pocket of one of the bags, Ino's fingers brushed a piece of cold metal. She paused then carefully inspected it with her fingertips. It felt like a forehead protector… Ino frowned.

Shinobi weren't issued more than one at a time, and for good reason – doing that ensured that there would be less chance of someone getting their hands on one – and it was only if you'd lost yours beyond recovery that they'd give you a new one. Hers was back in Konoha for exactly that reason. She didn't need it on this mission.

But both of the Iwa ninja had been wearing their protectors every time she'd seen them. Drawing it out, making sure to note the exact way it had been folded so she could replace it and they hopefully wouldn't notice, Ino turned it over in her hands.

The symbol for Otogakure stared back at her. She almost dropped it in her shock. Ino shook her head, just incase her mind was playing tricks on her, and checked again. No, it was still the same.

Hurriedly Ino put it back where it had been, then replaced everything else she'd removed from the bags, doing her absolute best to make everything look as if she'd never been there. Then she left the room, almost darting across the hall to the large walk-in closet that held the linens she was supposed to be getting.

Her hands shook as she gathered what she considered to be a reasonable armful of unfolded napkins for a civilian girl her age and size. Oto. Here. Ino bit her lip and tried to calm down. She wished now that Amaya-san wasn't in town. This was something that it was absolutely imperative that she tell her.

Ino was pretty sure that _this_ hadn't been something that the mission had called for. A Sound presence in Fire Country… suddenly she didn't feel so confident about this mission. And with more ninja coming tonight…

What if someone recognized her? Her hands went to her hair, pulling a strand in front of her face and she soothed herself with the fact that between her brown hair and tanned skin she hardly looked the way she did usually. "Just be careful," she admonished herself, "just be careful."

Composing herself, Ino forced a smile on her face. She couldn't look like anything had upset her. That would set off alarms if anyone was watching her movements. Gathering up her pile of napkin linens, she headed back to the banquet hall.

Moving quicker than she normally dared while in the guise of Kawano Junko, but not nearly as fast as she could go – she had to make up the extra time she'd wasted – Ino tried to convince herself that this wasn't going to change the mission greatly. It didn't really work.

If things were bad between Iwa and Konoha well, there was no comparison to the animosity currently between Konoha and Oto. At least with Iwa there'd been almost twenty years for things to cool down. She shook her head, and entered the banquet hall, almost babbling apologies about taking so long, claiming she'd gotten turned around on her way back.

In a way, the work she was set to, of more scrubbing and folding cloth napkins was a relief. She used the time to organize her thoughts knowing that in her current state if any of the Chuunin entered the room her reaction would likely be off. Which was the absolute last thing she wanted to have happen right now.

She hoped Amaya-san came back soon.

* * *

Tsunade looked up from going over yet another bit of paperwork she needed to have finished if she wanted to go ahead with the Raikage's offer. Shizune was leaning against the door frame and frowning at her. 

"Tsunade-sama," Shizune said, her respectful words at odds with the anger in the way she stood, "when sending Genin off on missions protocol states that _all_ their teachers should be informed -- especially when the mission is technically outside of the team's parameters."

"You would've said no." Tsunade didn't see the point in beating around the bush. "I nearly said no. Sarutobi still isn't happy with it for all that he went out on the mission." Her lips quirked. "Excellent intelligence skills though – the only paperwork about the mission has it classed as a B rank, and despite your protests, Team 10 is qualified for such a mission."

"If so many are against it, then why send her out?" Shizune was still frowning, though Tsunade did note that her animosity had lessened on hearing that no one had really agreed about it. But who knew whether it was from the compliment to her skills, or the fact that it was true that Team 10 really was qualified, if only barely, for a mission of that rank.

"ANBU wanted it." She answered simply. "And they had a strong enough case to back up their reasoning."

"She's just a Genin!" Shizune protested, "An A rank is out of her league."

"I have it on good authority that Yamanaka-kun would be crushed to hear that one of her teachers thinks so little of her skills." Tsunade said, watching Shizune flush at the implied reprimand in her words. "You can be assured that ANBU is under extremely strict orders to keep her as safe as possible if anything goes wrong."

And that was all she could ask of them. Anything could happen and sometimes circumstances spiraled beyond the control, and preparation, of anyone. Even the best shinobi could be taken by surprise and only a fool thought that a mission plan would, for certain, hold up the way they had predicted after the first step.

"How long is the mission to last?" Shizune asked finally, and Tsunade had to stop herself from sighing in relief. It was clear, written all over Shizune's body language that the other woman wasn't happy with her decision.

But then, Tsunade never had been expecting that she'd be able to keep everyone happy. Nor would she really want to try. It'd be a poor leader that bent to every whim of their people. She would settle for being liked only some of the time – and even then, she'd rather that they trusted her judgment. No matter if they were happy about it or not.

"The mission? Could last indefinitely." Tsunade admitted, watching as Shizune's eyes narrowed, "But I've already informed the ANBU on duty that I want Team 10 back in time for the upcoming Chuunin Exams."

"They've only got two members," Shizune pointed out, then looked amused, "expecting that they'll agree to take Sakura-chan with them as their third?"

"I'll suggest it to her, if the idea occurs to neither of them." Tsunade admitted with a shrug, "But the rank would be good for Sakura, as proof of her improvements. And they are one of the more skilled teams – last time around, rookies and yet they still made it to the preliminaries. Holding them back wouldn't be any good. Konoha needs additional higher ranked shinobi after the invasion."

"And Ino-kun, for sure, would want to go. She is a competitive girl. Very proud." Shizune said, then shook her head, "The Exams are being held where this time around? Konoha did it last time, Grass is next, right?"

"Traditionally." Tsunade said, flipping through her paperwork, "But a while ago I received an interesting proposition that I decided to go ahead with." She offered a copy of the original proposal to Shizune.

Her student took the paper, eyes widening as she read. "_Kumo_. Tsunade-sama, we're only a few steps away from open war with them! Sending out Genin into their midst is –"

"A preemptive strike." Tsunade finished, raising her eyebrows. "It'd give a least a few of our younger shinobi a broader understanding of what they'd be up against if war happened, and we cannot afford to greatly anger Kumo at this time. Turning down their proposal could be the straw that breaks the flood gates."

After the failed peace treaty, and the attempted kidnapping of Hyuuga Hinata years ago, Kumo and Konoha had settled down into an uneasy truce mostly brought about by the fact that the two villages were quite distant from each other. She was well aware that Sarutobi-sensei had not been interested in attempting for another treaty, but Tsunade was also aware that she was much different, both in personal beliefs and the way she lead, than her old teacher.

"How many are you sending?" Shizune asked, going straight to the logistics of the issue at hand. "I'm assuming they've placed a limit on the number of teams they'd accept for placement."

"You're right, and the answer is 'not many'." Tsunade said dryly, "Four teams is all they'll permit inside the gates of their village. I would have Team 10, with Sakura as one of those teams."

"What others?" Shizune asked, "Have you decided yet which teams you'll bring the matter up with?" It was too early, after all, for any of this to be mentioned to the sensei of the Genin. Too soon and it would only affect the performance of the Genin as they alternately got nervous or cocky about being admitted to the exams.

Tsunade pursed her lips. "I would have liked to send Team 8, Yuuhi's team out but –"

"There is no way that Hyuuga Clan will allow his heir to be sent out to the village that has already once tried to kidnap her." Shizune said, with an understanding nod.

"I have a meeting scheduled with him, next week," she said as if Shizune hadn't interrupted her, "and while sending Team 8 is impossible I might be able to sway him to permit Team 3, Maito's team, to Kumo. Hyuuga Neji bears the cursed seal. Even if Kumo attempts anything, and succeeds, they'll not learn the secrets of the Byakugan."

"I would that he'd be more concerned for the health of his Clan members," Shizune began only for Tsunade to cut her off with an abrupt shake of her head.

It didn't matter, in this case, what their opinion was. Only a fool would try and mess with Hyuuga tradition over something as minor as a Chuunin Exam. "It doesn't matter," she said firmly, "what does matter is that it is possible that Hiashi might concede to allowing Hyuuga Neji to compete in Kumo. It is vitally important, more so than normal even, that Konoha presents a strong front in the competition."

"That's two teams," Shizune said, narrowing her eyes, "what about the other two?"

"I haven't yet decided," she said, pulling out several slim dossiers, "but there are more than enough teams to choose from. Konoha does have a great deal of young talent that we could use being promoted." Tsunade offered the dossiers to Shizune, "Those are a few of the more likely Teams I'd like to send, look through them and tell me what you think. I'll take your opinion into consideration."

"But not when it comes to Ino-kun's team." Shizune pointed out sharply.

Tsunade looked up and held eye contact with Shizune, "No." She said finally, "I don't need to. Yamanaka-kun's team is strong enough, and has proven it, that their inclusion so long as Sarutobi agrees is guaranteed. The same for Team 3. Team 8 would have garnered the same consideration had they not had a Main House Hyuuga on their team. They are skilled enough to make quite an impression."

She knew that Shizune wasn't pleased with her. They both knew that she was right however. It was rare for so many rookies to make it to the finals – and while some were saying that Team 10 had only made it because of the Nara kid, the ANBU doing the surveillance on Yamanaka-kun had quietly disagreed.

"Nara Shikamaru's skill at planning ahead was one of their advantages," one ANBU agent had said, "but both Yamanaka and Akimichi are capable of their own plans as well as working together seamlessly. There is no doubt that Nara 's direction helped, but for Genin the entire team is operating well above standards when it comes to planning." Her tone of voice had left no room for argument and from the way that Shizune's face tightened as Tsunade quoted that at her she knew that her student had gotten the same message loud and clear.

"I'll look over the files for you, Tsunade-sama," Shizune said, gathering them up and getting to her feet, "when would you like my report?"

Tsunade checked her calendar, a quick glance to the right and a moments pause to think. "Next Tuesday. I've got the morning free, but for paperwork." And there was always paperwork no matter how hard she tried to keep up with it. A meeting to discuss Genin teams wasn't going to put her much further behind.

Shizune bowed her head. "I'll have it done by then. Shall I send Sakura-san in when she shows up for her lesson?"

Tsunade looked out the window, taking in the cloudy weather and the stiff breeze. "Tell her to meet me down at the training field behind the hospital." She said, "There's a few things I need to show her if she wants to have a better than average chance at becoming a Chuunin. Her taijutsu is her weakest skill." And Sakura, however talented she was at medical ninjutsu wasn't near far enough along to have any offensive medical techniques. "I'm going to help offset that imbalance."

"As you wish, Tsunade-sama." Shizune bowed and headed for the door.

Tsunade sighed, "Shizune?" She called, "I'm sorry, but I won't be changing my mind either."

"You wouldn't be Tsunade-sama if you did," Shizune's quiet voice came back, "I'll get back to you about the reports."

Leaning back in her chair Tsunade spent few minutes just staring at nothing in particular before shaking her head and lifting another bit of paperwork out of her pile. There was no point in dwelling right now. There were people counting on her.

* * *

Shutting the door quietly behind them, Chouji started down the stairs with Shikamaru just in front of him on their way to begin the rounds Asuma-sensei had sent them on. "What did you think of that?" Chouji asked, "They've managed to pick up a bit of information this time, which is good. We've already been here a week and a bit." 

Shikamaru shook his head. "They got rid of us awful quick."

That... wasn't what he had been talking about. Chouji frowned at the back of Shikamaru's head. "You can't expect them to tell us everything." His father had told him before about that. "They're doing it to keep us safe in case of being captured." The less information they had the better. It was dangerous for them to know too much.

"This whole mission is messed up." Shikamaru said flatly. "Apparently we're on it because of _my _rank and yet Ino's the one that'll be in hot water if something goes wrong. That's just..."

Chouji tugged his hood up, shaking his head, "That's the way the mission worked out." He didn't see the issue with it. "Ino's the one with the skills for working in the manor. You know she's good at acting. Besides, this way, if there's any trouble we're in place to get her out of there as quickly as possible. I'm glad I'm not the one in her place, lying constantly like that can't be easy."

"It's Ino," Shikamaru said pointedly, as they stepped out into the rain, "do you really think she's got a problem with lying?"

He didn't bother to justify that with an answer. Chouji was of the opinion that Ino didn't really enjoy it, but it wasn't as if they could just ask her and expect to get a straight answer. There was no way she'd answer that up front. What kind of kunoichi wasn't capable of lying? Not many.

"I think the problem with this whole mission is that it's just... boring." Chouji said after enough time had passed that he could justify changing the subject. "Nothing has happened - and I don't want anything to happen, but it does make the days drag. But everything about the mission seems perfectly legit to me."

"Except for the fact that Asuma-sensei is keeping mission information from us."

Chouji shrugged, sending water off his cloak without while he organized his thoughts, "It's not like we won't have to get used to that," he pointed out calmly, "It's standard procedure for higher ranked missions. Come to think of it, it's not really a surprise all things considered. This is a higher level mission than we're used to. I just can't get mad at Asuma-sensei for treating us like we're supposed to be treated on a mission of this rank."

The roads were slick under their feet, though they kept their balance well enough with little effort, and Chouji was feeling bit sorry for any civilian that had to be out in this weather. It wasn't very appealing at all. Rain was always better when you didn't have to go outside.

"In fact," Chouji continued on, knowing that Shikamaru was just going to get pissed off at him. "I think it's just that you miss having Ino around to complain at that has you so wound up."

"I'm not wound up." Shikamaru snapped, then shook his head, his hair sticking to his face from the rain. He'd forgotten to pull the hood up on his cloak. "I'm not. It's just, the dreams are worse again." That last was said reluctantly.

"I hate to say it," Chouji said sympathetically, glancing at him while keeping an eye on their surroundings, "but it sounds like you're going to have to just get used to those dreams. Ino will do what she wants to do."

"Nightmares aren't exactly something you can just get used to." Shikamaru said dryly. "And I've got it on good authority that they will only get worse."

"The fact remains though, that even if you want to stop dreaming about her in danger, Ino isn't going to just meekly stay out of it." The idea of Ino staying out of all danger? Made him want to laugh, because really - that wasn't Ino at all.

"I don't want to stop her." Shikamaru sounded irritated. "I just want her safe, and that's impossible to make certain."

Well. That much was true. He couldn't argue with that. No shinobi could be kept safe, the very idea was a ridiculous one.

Chouji shrugged, eyes scanning the area the way they were supposed to be doing. The rain made it harder, but he was careful to not miss any area. It didn't matter, to him, if Asuma-sensei had sent them out here just to keep them out of the way. It was still their job. This was still a mission and they'd been given their orders. Not to mention the fact that while this might feel pointless, there was always the chance of something happening. Being prepared, being over-prepared was better than not enough.

"We're supposed to be working as a team," Shikamaru said finally, "I'm not sure how you can say that we're working as a real team when two of us are out here and she's way across town."

That made him glance over at Shikamaru, "It's all part of the same mission, isn't it? I mean, if someone does hear Asuma-sensei and Amaya-san talking then... well, Ino could be in a lot of danger. So, if by doing these patrols, we can help prevent that I'd say we're working fine as a team."

Shikamaru sighed, "Yeah, whatever. I still think we'd be more effective if we weren't separated and Ino wasn't all having to make nice to Chuunin from other villages. Even if it's just for the mission. It's risky."

Chouji patted Shikamaru on the arm. "Ino can take care of herself. She'll be fine I bet."

"I hope so." His friend said, looking up at the sky and getting a face-full of rain. Shikamaru didn't seem to mind as he continued with, "I really do."

"And," Chouji had to say, because really, it needed to be said, "If Ino heard you talking like that about her mission you know that she'd hit you again. She'd hate to hear that from you. Try to have a little bit of faith in her, at least. Ino's trying hard. It's obvious how much she's been training lately." Even if she didn't share the details of what she was training on.

Shikamaru shook his head. "That's got nothing to do with what I don't like about this mission. None of this feels right."

"Well, " Chouji was just humoring him by now, "I'm sure you'll get used to it eventually. All missions are different after all."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever."

They walked in silence, eyes scanning the area - Chouji taking the left and Shikamaru the right - and searching in the rain for any sign of anything that looked out of place. An hour later and Chouji hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary. When he glanced at Shikamaru questioningly he got a shake of Shikamaru's head. Nothing had been seen on his end either.

Good. That was good.

He wasn't going to complain about an uneventful mission. Boredom he could live with, and Chouji knew from listening to his father that boring missions were rare. He had no problems with waiting for Ino to get whatever information she and Amaya-san could and then getting them out without a ripple if they could. Not an easy task, but not an impossible one either.

Boring missions were the kind that you came back alive from. After his first real brush with death Chouji wasn't so keen to go chasing after it again. Alive was good.

Slowly they completed their circuit, lashing of rain soaking their cloaks and making them shiver. Without talking he knew that Shikamaru was dreading the night shift tonight. They'd be outside in this for hours and hours. By the end of it Chouji thought that it would be a wonder if both of them managed to avoid getting colds.

As they slipped back inside the hotel, and Chouji immediately tugged his cloak off and wrung it out - there was no point in tracking water all the way up the stairs and throughout their rooms more than he could help it - and he nudged Shikamaru to do the same.

"Do you think Amaya-san is gone yet?" Shikamaru wondered as they slowly started up the stairs, "Or do you think we were quick enough that she's not yet finished with her real report?"

"If she's not gone," he said firmly, deciding to make his stance on this issue obvious, "then I'm not going to listen. I refuse to be put in the situation of being a potential information leak."

"It would be their fault." Shikamaru said, shaking his head, wet ponytail drooping lower than normal. "If they can't guard well enough against the two of us - what are they doing being Jounin?"

Chouji said nothing because, after all, that was true as far as it went. He still wasn't going to listen though. Luckily for him, though Shikamaru looked irritated, they were let into the room after tapping the correct sequence for identifications purposes, and found that Amaya-san had already headed back.

Setting his cloak by the fire to dry as well as it was able to before he had to use it again, and noticing that Shikamaru had disappeared into the other bedroom, Chouji settled down with a scroll to read. Just because he was on a mission didn't stop him from being able to go over what his Dad had promised to teach him when they got back.

It was going to be a long night.

* * *

Ibiki strode along the darkened halls of the ANBU headquarters with the confidence borne of long familiarity. He had, after all, been in ANBU for nearly seven years now – longer than most lasted – and there were few that would disagree with the fact that he knew the layout of the headquarters cleverly concealed in the mountain behind the Hokage Monument better than nearly anyone around. It wasn't just arrogance that made him sure that of the ANBU currently on active duty there were but a few who could match him in terms of knowledge. 

Which was as it was supposed to be. He wouldn't have been named Head of Torture and Interrogation otherwise. His long stride ate up distance quickly and he hardly noticed – while at the same time noticing everything – as he headed up several flights of stairs, then turned down a hall that was indistinguishable from the rest of them. Except for the fact of who it was that lived on this floor.

Hyuuga Hiromasa had agreed to see him, sending back his messenger not fifteen minutes after Ibiki had dispatched him with the request. In his hands he held a report that one of his agents had brought to him earlier that morning.

It boded ill. Of course, Ibiki knew, most reports from ANBU boded ill for someone – they were the ones that did the dirty work of the Hokage after all and that meant dealing with issues that were harder, and darker.

This though, could cause problems. He paused outside the nondescript door, different only from the others by the two fully uniformed ANBU that guarded it.

"He's clean," one of them said in a low voice, after a few minutes of careful studying, "we can let him through."

Ibiki cracked a smile. Hyuuga Hiashi wondered where his disowned Clan kin wound up? Well, ANBU was the perfect place for them after a few months of hard reconditioning and retraining.

The room he was shown into was very sparse. The light hanging from the ceiling was harsh and unforgiving and the man seated in one of the chairs was equally so. Hiromasa glanced up, white eyes unamused and steady. "What is so important that you had to pass it on in such a rush? Your messenger was jittery."

Ibiki took a seat without asking and slid the report across the desk. "Yakushi Kabuto has been spotted in Aomori-shi."

"That's been confirmed?" Hiromasa asked, opening the report and glancing at it.

"Two of our agents spotted him." Ibiki said, "As per their standing orders they did not pursue him."

It was galling, that order, but at the same time it made sense. Yakushi was one of the few known agents of Orochimaru. If they could keep tabs on him it would be easier, far easier, to find out information on Orochimaru. And of the two of them it was no doubt who was considered more dangerous.

"Aomori-shi?" Hiromasa said slowly, eyebrows drawing together. "Where in Aomori-shi?"

"In the daimyo's house." He said, "Twice now, both times at night and both times to talk to the Chuunin who guard the daimyo." Ibiki trusted his agents. If they said it was true then he had no doubt that it was. And that was bad news.

Hiromasa reached up to rub the bridge of his nose, "Pull the Yamanaka chit out of there immediately. She's been there over a week and a half, Kotone should have enough information to start with as it is, and we don't dare leave her in position with Yakushi hanging around. Even with dyed hair the girl is recognizable."

Especially to one of Yakushi's caliber. Ibiki nodded his head, "A messenger will go out as soon as we're done. They should be in Aomori-shi by the end of tomorrow." And even then it would take a few days to pull the Yamanaka girl out of the daimyo's service without arousing suspicion. They'd have to stage an excuse good enough to have her be free to leave but not one so extraordinary as to rouse suspicions before that.

"And until then the ANBU will have to do." Hiromasa said firmly, "But I want that team brought back as quickly as possible. You know as well as I do that Hokage-sama has plans for them."

That got a smile from Ibiki. "She has not tried to hide it from us though most shinobi have no idea what is coming."

"Chuunin Exams in Kumo." Hiromasa shook his head, eyes skimming over the report as he spoke, "It hasn't happened in nearly thirty years. Not since the wars broke out and then the animosity between the Raikage and Hokage-sama. I am interested in seeing how it turns out. It's entirely possible that it's a trap."

"If it is, it is at the same time not one that we can afford to ignore." Ibiki said, "If she had asked our advice then we would have counseled her to accept the offer."

"Konoha cannot afford to be seen as weak." Came the almost absent response. "Hokage-sama didn't need our opinions to know that. There are already plans in place to keep an eye on the proceedings." He hadn't ever doubted that for a minute.

Setting aside the report, and Ibiki knew it would be read over again the moment he left the room, Hiromasa leaned back in his chair, his black uniform almost seeming to absorb the light.

"What purpose is there for Yakushi to be seen there?" He asked almost rhetorically.

"Iwa is no more likely to aid Orochimaru than us." Ibiki said slowly, "They will remember him and his experiments on their shinobi from the war." You could say many unflattering things about Iwa shinobi – Ibiki certainly did – but the fact remained that they did have long memories and were unlikely to change their policies. "And there are daimyo that would have more information than the one he is consorting with. What knowledge that is being passed there, it's likely he already knows a great deal of it."

And ANBU had been furious on the whole to realize that Yakushi had so skillfully deceived them. When they did catch up with him, as would happen eventually, there would no remorse in killing what had once been one of their own.

"Exactly," Hiromasa said slowly, "we're missing something. When you send the messenger out add orders that our men are to find out as much as they can about what Yakushi is planning. We need that information if we're to have a hope of countering it." It was a clear dismissal.

Ibiki stood, bowed, and went to let himself out of the room when Hiromasa's voice stopped him. "And inform Hokage-sama of the latest development."

And hope she didn't shoot the messenger, Ibiki thought wryly, as he shut the door behind him. Well, in Hokage-sama's case it was more likely that he'd be punched, but the idea remained the same.

Things were going wrong, and they needed to move quickly.

* * *


	11. Chapter 8: Missteps

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 08 Missteps  
Author: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 8 of ? Unbeta'd. Sorry 'bout the delay. That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk! Also? Um. Cliffhanger. Yes.

* * *

It was the worst thing ever, she decided, in the midst of having to scrub the floors, to have to wait around and hope that no one noticed that you were, in fact, waiting for someone.

Ino spent the rest of the time while preparing for the banquet in quite a state. She hid it though, with light words and smiles that made the others grin and she was glad enough to be given leave an hour before the dinner was to start. It was deemed, by Hoshi-sama, that more senior maidservants would be the ones to handle the dressing of little Aiko. With that permission, she bowed, accepted the hug from Aiko-sama with a grin that she didn't feel, and fled the banquet hall.

She immediately hurried to her room, glad for the respite, for the time in relative privacy so that she didn't have to keep the smile on her face quite so bright. For a moment Ino flung herself down on her bed and closed her eyes. Her head was reeling with thoughts and worries. Ino had given herself a headache keeping her composure spotlessly for the entire morning, and Megumi-san wasn't even back yet.

Where was she?

Had something gone wrong? She worried for a moment before forcibly dismissing the idea. It was far too early to start wondering about something so dire.

Ino, knowing that though she'd been dismissed, couldn't just hang around her room and do nothing for hours on end--no matter how much she wanted to, just to help give herself time to put things into perspective--forced herself off the bed and considered her options.

She had realized, about half an hour after getting back to the banquet hall that she hadn't checked both of the bags. Sloppy, she thought reprovingly. That could've been done better, but she'd panicked at the thought of Otogakure.

A part of her, a rather large part of her it had to be admitted, wanted nothing better than to go and scope out the room again--and make sure that she hadn't mistaken what she'd seen. That it hadn't been something she'd made up.

But that was a fools' game and Ino knew that. She had seen the hitae-ite and it hadn't been a mistake. There was no misunderstanding the sight of a musical note precisely engraved on the cold metal.

The only thing that remained was what she was to do about it. There… wasn't a whole lot that she could do really.

In an attempt to put it out of her thoughts until Megumi-san got back from her trip out--no doubt, Ino realized, that the 'rain' had delayed her. Ino smirked faintly as she started tidying up the small room that the two of them were sharing for the duration of their employment. Of course the rain wouldn't any of shinobi, and definitely not one of Megumi-san's calibre. Lies within lies.

Ino felt a bit of a twinge at that thought. A part of her would've liked to be able to go and see them, her team, but she knew better than that. She knew better than to even make noises about wanting to go.

It'd be too suspicious if she were seen. Megumi could go places that Junko couldn't and that was that.

And always one of them had to remain on-site to keep an eye out so that nothing escaped their notice.

It wasn't long after she'd finished tidying the room, and was just setting the water to boil to make tea, waiting rather impatiently for it, it must be admitted, while getting started on the sewing work she'd acquired after having tentatively inquired about some work she might do while the rest of the household was more engrossed with the banquet—when she heard familiar footfalls coming down the hallway.

Megumi-san was back. There was no mistaking who it could be, and no reason as of yet to worry (more than basic prudence, of course) about such a mistake, and it was proven a moment later by the grinning and soaking wet figure of her 'sister' as she appeared, sliding open the paper door and stepping inside the rooms they shared.

Ino leapt to her feet, all solicitous sibling, and quickly but efficiently got Megumi-san out of her wet things and into a warm, if worn, robe and presented her with a cup of tea. That earned her a smile of approval and Ino glowed a bit, even if it was possibly all just a smile for the act. Did it matter, really? It was still a smile for her.

All the while though, as she went about fussing over her 'sister' making sure that she was warm enough, and that the tea was to her liking, Ino chattered brightly about the preparations that had been going on, how much more work there still was to do before they could even dream of having guests over and that, apparently, more shinobi were to come for the banquet--wasn't that exciting? It was certainly _interesting._

"And what," Ino said severely, toweling off Megumi-san's hair as she spoke, "were you thinking staying out in the rain for so long? Do you want to get sick or something, Onee-sama? Ino had her hands make a few simple gestures, brushing up against Megumi-san's scalp, relaying a silent: _I need to talk to you_.

"I only did what I was told, Junko-chan. And I'm sure you'll not allow an illness anywhere near me," Megumi said, and followed it with the quick inwards dip of her right little finger and then a raise of her eyebrows. _Wait_.

She needed to report, and she needed to report quickly. Ino expressed the urgency of that in the way she shrugged, pretending to fight off a shiver while turning to get a brush from the table, and beginning to run it through Megumi-san's hair. "Perhaps a bath?" Ino suggested, "To make sure a chill doesn't take hold."

"Wait however long until the banquet is in session," Megumi-san said, after considering the suggestion for a few moments. "It'll do no good to attempt to make it to the baths while the halls are so busy."

Ino had to be content with that. Megumi-san had gotten her message, and for sure, she was right, it'd be better to wait until people where mostly otherwise occupied. Even if it grated on her nerves.

"Not so long a wait," she said, with a faint smile, "less than half an hour even. People should be entering the hall already, except for those who deign to be fashionably late."

Which was something to be glad of. She'd be patient because Megumi-san had ordered it, but that did not mean she had to like it. At all. And this… wasn't something that should be put off for long. "Would you like me to brush out your hair, Onee-sama?"

When in doubt, stick with the character you were given. Ino could do that.

"If you would," was the calm, and Ino imagined, approving response. She was glad of the task, however simple, to focus her energy on and pretend that everything was alright.

It wasn't until after she'd finished with Megumi-san's hair and, upon request, went and fetched, returning in short order, with two bowls of rice and vegetables--it seemed that she hadn't been kidding about being hungry--that Megumi raised her eyebrows expectantly at Ino, and Ino knew she could speak freely.

Ino made herself sit calmly, her back straight and kept her voice level. _Calm and cool_. While she wanted to just spill the whole story out in one jumbled rush of words… Ino had the training, if not the experience—Asuma-sensei had beaten this sort of thing into her head, and done it well—that she knew in order to give a properly coherent report (and more importantly, a _useful_ one) that she had to know how to marshal her thoughts carefully and keep track of how she wanted to say it. All of it.

She told of the chance to explore. The hitae-ite. How nothing else had seemed out of place, though she hadn't dared to stick around and check out the bags belonging to the other shinobi. Ino spoke of how she'd put it back exactly how she had found it and then spent the rest of the day waiting, just waiting, for this moment while acting as normal as she could about everything.

When she was finished, Ino settled back, feeling relieved that she'd finally been able to report about what had been happening while Megumi-san had been gone. That was important.

"And you're certain that no one suspects a thing?" Megumi asked slowly, turning her teacup in her hands.

Ino nodded, but quickly added, "Not one hundred percent certain of course," that'd just be foolhardy, assuming that, "but as sure as I can be about it. I was careful."

"I'm sure you were," and Ino couldn't help but preen a little under the approval of implicit in those words, "I'll do some investigating on my own."

"Yes, Onee-sama."

She nodded. That was what she'd expected--no Genin would be allowed properly to go out and poke their nose into affairs so dangerous.

"What shall I do for now then?" Ino asked, tucking her brown dyed hair behind on ear.

"For now, keep acting as you have been. Don't go out of your way to see them—but don't try to avoid them either, because they will notice that since you never did it before. And tell me if you see anything else."

"Yes, Onee-sama."

* * *

Sakura beamed and smoothed down the front of her apron as her latest customers left the flower shop cradling twin bouquets in their arms. A quick look around the shop showed that for the moment there was no one who needed her assistance and her smile broadened. Slipping behind the pale wood counter at the back she ducked quickly into the back room and took a sip of her juice before going back up front.

Yamanaka Flowers wasn't a place Sakura had ever considered working at, even part time. For one thing, Ino worked there often when she wasn't training (though her current schedule meant that Ino was only working maybe two short shifts a week) and Sakura had long ago decided that working with Ino would only be hazardous to the health of both of them. Friends, yes. Co-workers outside of the both of them being ninja?

_No_. Definitely not a good idea.

The shop was nice though. Wide aisles which gave the flowers room so they didn't look crowded and crushed while letting the customers have enough space to maneuver without fear of knocking things over. The flooring was hard dark wood and the walls were painted a very pale yellow. Wide windows kept the place from being too enclosed.

She'd come up with the idea of working at the shop when Yamanaka Mui-san had been firm about her refusal of any other payment, and Sakura had been equally determined to find some way pay the Yamanaka's back for their kindness in letting her stay.

Paying her way, as it were. She didn't want to be beholden to anyone a single moment longer than she had to. If there'd been anyway that she could afford it—or even _dream_ of being able to afford it—Sakura would've attempted living on her own on just her Genin salary.

Even with the fact that she could, technically (and she was sure he wouldn't mind) stay at Naruto's place, Sakura knew that it'd be hard going for her to manage it as it was. How did Naruto do it, she wondered idly. Maybe she'd ask him in her next letter out.

"Daydreaming?" Mui-san asked, sounding quietly amused.

Sakura flushed. Here she was, trying to make up for the fact that she was, essentially, being a free-loader and…

"Don't worry about it," she was told, as Mui-san brushed past her to the counter. "It's quiet today. A few moments won't hurt anyone, not even yourself."

"Mui-san," Sakura started, turning to look at the woman, "I wanted to –"

"If you're apologizing for it, I don't want to hear it Sakura–chan." Mui-san told her firmly with a faint smile lighting up her face. Looking at Mui-san was a bit like looking at Ino and wondering if this was what she might look like in twenty years or so.

Of course, Sakura had to admit, Ino took a great deal after both her parents and really it was hard to tell what would happen in however many years. And, she knew, Ino would say that she looked only like herself thank-you-very-much.

She blushed slightly. "I still feel that I should be—"

"Don't worry about it," Mui-san said, with calm insistence. "You're an excellent bit of help with Ino-chan so busy with other work these days. We've been a bit short-staffed."

Which was not precisely a complaint, Sakura knew. Mui-san, as a former kunoichi, knew better than to underestimate the importance of training while you could. It was a lesson that Sakura had learned. Only fools didn't bother to train past their limits. She'd been a fool once, but no more.

"And besides that," the blonde-haired woman continued, "as you're Ino's friend it was not as if we could do anything else. I hate to think of my daughter's reaction to hearing that we'd turned her best friend away."

Sakura found, almost to her dismay, that she was starting to smile. "She's not so bad."

"Not so bad," Mui-san laughed lightly, "Ah, she's got a good friend in you. I know my daughter and yes, she can be that bad. Worse than that even. Much like her father. Two of them, both cut from the same cloth."

And proud of it, Sakura knew. No question about _that_.

She wondered, a bit, at what it'd be like to now have someone who'd be on her side no matter what and support her the way that Ino's family did.

Some of her feelings must have showed on her face because Mui-san's face became sympathetic, but not pitying, and her next words were, "Ah well, civilians, they don't understand. I know that quite well. Has Ino told you much about that?"

Sakura paused and then shook her head, pink hair flying loose around her head. "I've only heard the very basics from Ino," she admitted. "Just that you didn't get along with your family and that you were glad to be parted from them."

Mui-san smiled faintly. "Not exactly the truth, but I cannot blame by daughter for wanting to spare me the indignity of going into detail about it all."

Sakura supposed, then, that she couldn't blame Ino for not telling her. After all, it wasn't as if any of this was any of her business really. "I... I don't mean to pry or anything," she said quickly. "You don't have to tell me."

"Sakura-chan," Mui-san said, with a smile that crinkled the skin around her eyes. "I'm the one that brought it up. There are no apologies needed."

She nodded mutely.

"Would you like to hear it then? At least," Mui-san amended. "At least a little bit of wisdom that I feel you sorely need to hear, though I doubt you'll care for it. It's not a very happy story, though it turns out, in the end, good enough for me. "

"I'd like that, Mui-san," Sakura said quietly, smoothing her apron down again, and hoping that she'd live up to whatever it was that Mui-san saw in her. There were days when Sakura didn't think she could.

"That I managed to get into the Academy was purely through sheer stubborn determination as my parents disapproved of the idea from the beginning. They gave in eventually though, knowing as I do, that most drop-outs are in the first two years of the Academy--young enough then that they would've been able to put me into a civilian school once the 'phase' wore off and I had realized how dangerous a job it was that I wanted."

Sakura tucked a piece of her hair behind one hear and listened intently to what Mui-san was saying.

"Of course," Mui-san said. "I didn't change my mind. I wasn't top of my class, but I wasn't anywhere near the bottom either. My skills were quite firmly in the middle range of it all, and it was generally speculated that I'd be a fine Chuunin, a career Chuunin, but that it was unlikely that I'd ever make Jounin." She paused, lips twisting slightly. "Or, honestly, that it was unlikely that I'd ever really _want_ to make Jounin."

"Why wouldn't you want to?" Sakura asked, startled. "Doesn't everyone want to go up in ranks?"

"Ah," Mui-san said, looking faintly amused, "no. It's another thing that civilian–born shinobi find out eventually, if they don't die first. Most of your classmates—or at least, most of the ones that you graduated with in fact, will no doubt go on to become solid Chuunin at the very least and specialize in a field. Some, and only some, will go further than that."

"Then why not--"

"Because they don't have the heart for it," Mui-san explained. "They don't have the steel underneath it to keep going, to care so deeply that they don't care."

Sakura felt like she was speaking another language. "What does that mean exactly, Mui-san?"

"It means everything," Mui-san said firmly. "There's a certain… coldness of spirit that makes for a good Jounin. My husband has it."

A pause. Sakura stared wide-eyed at Mui-san.

"I can see it in my daughter already. All that she needs is the skill. She's got the heart." Mui-san looked at Sakura. "So do you, I believe. Every couple of years or so you get a class like yours—cold-hearted and yet as passionate as the sun."

"Why would that…" Sakura shook her head. "It doesn't make sense…"

"It does, I assure you," Mui-san said. "Because to be a good Jounin, and not just have the skills of one, you must be able to close your heart to suffering. You've got to be able to care so deeply and yet tread the fine line of not caring at all. Or you'll go mad."

"How does that relate to you…?"

Mui-san shook her head. "I didn't have it. That heart of fire. I made Chuunin, eventually—after living on first with my sensei and then on my own, as my parents kicked me out the day I graduated from the Academy—but that heart, that sense of feeling, never developed. Did you know that? You _can't_ learn that. You've got to be born with it. The few who make it to Jounin without that heart are the ones that die quickly. My sensei told me, way back when I was just a Genin that I'd best not even to try for Jounin. Do you know why?"

She shook her head again.

"Because I care too much," Mui-san said simply. "I cared so much so that when my sensei went down, rather than keep fighting, accomplish the mission, I went and tried to avenge him. I messed up because in that moment I wasn't thinking like a shinobi—I was thinking like a civilian. I was lucky to make it out with my life though, though I paid for my foolishness and was injured badly enough that they never could put me back on active duty."

"A shinobi's heart must be both soft as silk and cold as steel all that the same time, Sakura-chan. You must have the strength of will to both kill people, and to save them. Jounin are those that can walk the line above that wavering pit and do it so well that we never notice just how much the rope wobbles when they move. You're still learning," she sighed.

"Go. You've got the rest of the day off. Think about what I said."

Sakura fled.

* * *

Daring. Nerve. Innovation.

She could work with that. Megumi tugged her hair back, watching as Ino left the room, and considered what she'd been told.

Otogakure. Here. That was… well, that was unexpected. So close to the border of Iwa's jurisdiction. She didn't doubt Ino, though she'd have to confirm it with her own eyes to be able to report it. There was utterly no possibility of her being able to simply include that in her report as a fact. Not when the information had come from a Genin.

But she would definitely include, should it prove true or not, what Ino had done of her own initiative. _Good_. Quick thinking, though perhaps it could've been quicker and remembered to check the bags of the other shinobi for an alternate hitae-ite, but well and good. She could not fault Ino-kun, only a Genin after all, for being not daring enough to stick around longer than she had.

Especially with the chance of them coming back at any moment and coupled with the discovery the other hitae-ite…

Alright. Megumi considered her options, already moving, tugging her robe back up, and cinching it tight about her waist. Coiling her hair on top her head, she went and got the basket they shared for bathing.

The Jounin, which they had to be though they claimed only Chuunin rank, had rooms that were along the route she'd have to take to head for the baths. And a bath would do her good, besides. The rain might not have slowed her down, but it could still make her ill if she wasn't careful. Reasoning enough to kill two birds with one stone.

Slipping out of the room, leaving a quick note for 'Junko-chan' that she'd gone to the baths, Megumi paced evenly down the halls. Calm confidence, and a rueful smile for those few servants she came across. Hoshi-sama's orders, she explained when they asked, had sent her outside for hours. They nodded, and shooed her onwards, no need for further explanations.

_The truth_, she'd told Ino-kun as they'd traveled here, _can go a long way. Don't lie unless you need to._

People saw what they wanted to see, what they expected to see. They saw a girl heading for the baths; they assumed you really were just a girl heading for the baths.

Reaching the hallway, with the linen closet, and the rooms she needed to inspect, Megumi deviated from her neat route long enough to set her basket down, in the closet, so that no one would trip over it, before sliding carefully across the hall. The lack of chakra from inside the room said it was empty, as she'd suspected, since the Chuunin would need to be present for the entirety of the banquet, as they were the Daimyo's bodyguards no matter what other agendas they might have.

It did not, however, rule out the idea that one of them might be using a Bunshin. Caution, therefore, was essential. Always was really.

The room was just as it had been described, down to the bags and the risqué poetry on the desk. As far as she could tell neither shinobi had entered the room since Ino-kun had left it. Quickly then, before she got caught, Megumi went first for the bag that Ino-kun had mentioned going through.

In short order, she'd confirmed the presence of the Otogakure hitae-ite. It looked new though, almost unused… perhaps they were missing-nin that had just recently been recruited? Megumi frowned slightly. If they'd been missing-nin she would've recognized them.

Neither of them were in the Bingo Book though which…

Was a bad sign.

Checking the bag again to make sure she hadn't missed anything (she hadn't), she carefully repacked it all and moved on to the other bags, making sure to do the ones that Ino-kun had already mentioned doing. Just in case.

A first few were just like Ino-kun had said, soldier pills, spare kunai, wire, standard things for any shinobi to be carrying were they on a mission that gave them room to bring more than the minimum.

She paused though, when her hands brushed over metal, her fingers quick and moving to trace the design. It wasn't a musical note.

"Shit," she murmured softly, but with feeling, "we've got worse problems than just Otogakure."

And that meant she needed to get out of here quickly, and contact the ANBU team watching them. They needed to know, and she knew good and well that the ANBU were keeping a closer eye on Ino-kun than on her.

Good, Megumi thought as she quickly, but thoroughly went through the last few bags and found nothing out of the ordinary, because Ino-kun is going to need the protection if things went wrong. And the odds of things going wrong had just… well, more than doubled. Squared? What a mess. Megumi wondered just how well Intel was doing their jobs these days if this sort of thing was getting past them.

What were they planning? Megumi wondered, as she did one more quick check of the room to make sure it still looked undisturbed. Whatever it was… it boded ill. And not just for the mission. This wasn't a simple case of one Daimyo selling information to another side anymore. Perhaps it never had been.

They needed more information and needed it fast. Megumi hurried across the hall, scooped up her bathing basket, and set off towards the baths. She couldn't deviate from what she'd told people, all it would take is one person to notice that she hadn't actually been near the baths at any point and… well, worse case scenario, she'd be dead. Or worse than dead.

The baths were all but deserted this time of the day, and Megumi slipped off her robe—her ANBU spiral was hidden by dye—and into the hot water.

To all intents and purposes she looked relaxed. Eyes shut, head tilted back against the side of the hot spring, shoulders loose and at ease.

Nothing, of course, could be further from the truth. But the cornerstone of a good shinobi was the ability to lie and lie well. Power and flash made for excellent front-line defenses, but in ANBU... well, different rules applied.

Her fingers grazed past her mouth, to all appearances entirely casually, before dipping under the water and forming a few quick seals before pressing her hand neatly against the side of the hot spring and murmuring the jutsu through lips that barely moved.

Summoning jutsu weren't meant to be used in water really--mainly because the summons themselves protested--but it was the easiest way she could think of to get word out. Thanks to the enemy shinobi about she couldn't flare her chakra in any of their prearranged patterns.

A small grey mouse with a vest on crawled up out of the water, Megumi scooping one hand under it, setting it on her shoulder.

"Kotone-sama," he said, in a squeaky voice as he shook his fur out, "was that _really_ necessary?"

She nodded, a bare twitch of her head, just enough to have her hair drape over the mouse so it couldn't be spotted. "We've got problems, Dai-chan. Big ones."

That got a squeak, and a cold nose pressed almost comfortingly to her neck. "Listening."

She quickly sketched out the situation, in a murmur that didn't travel past her shoulders, and using as few words as possible, ending with, "...Yuuta's team should be close. I need you to pass all of that on to them and have code blue implemented within the next forty-eight hours."

"Understood."

It was the only response she got, before there was a light scurrying down her arm and then Dai was gone into the grasses and away from her. There. That much done. Warning given. Two days, and they'd be out.

She stretched, opening her eyes, and reached for the soap.

* * *

This time of the day, just past lunch, most of the clan was busily occupied with either managing the affairs of the clan, or long gone on missions. As such, the training grounds on the compound were for the most part unused.

This afternoon though, there were two Hyuuga in the main training room. Only one was actually training, but both of them were learning.

It was a tentative idea, slow and unsteady, with many pitfalls and holes they had to be careful to avoid. But, so far, it was working. Three hours from the first conception, discussion, and approval of the idea… it was still working.

They were both trying, in their own ways.

Her breathing was steady and controlled to her hearing, not yet tired enough to be raspy, and Hinata made herself practice the forms her father had been drilling her in just that morning again.

And again.

Each footstep, each twist of her hand, doing her best to remember exactly where the fingers had to bend, how her elbow had to point, and _step_, she was still too slow--

"Your feet are too close together," a voice said, startling her out of her concentration, "that's why you can't get the speed up for that."

Hinata nodded, eyes set and automatically adjusted her stance.

"Better," came the approval, "try it again."

"Alright," she said quietly, starting the pattern over. It flowed better, not easier, but still the movements were more fluid even if she was slower than before because of having to remember the new way her body had to move in. Sweat dripped down her spine, and she narrowed her eyes while narrowing her focus.

It was a good while later when the voice interrupted her again. "That's enough, take a break."

Hinata blinked as she came back to herself, feeling all of a sudden the exertion the practice had put on her. Rather than stop cold--she knew better than that, any shinobi child over the age of five knew that--Hinata slowed herself down easily, taking her time and letting her body cool down so that it wouldn't stiffen up and cause more pain later. The sound of her breath in her ears, and the way her heartbeat jumped in her throat was almost soothing. It had been a good workout. Better than most, if she admitted it to herself.

"You were getting the hang of it by then end," Hanabi said lightly from the side where she had been waiting and watching. And dispensing training advice in a cool voice that was better suited, Hinata thought, to someone older than Hanabi's nine years.

She stretched, carefully thinking of how to respond without Hanabi taking offense. "Your advice was good," Hinata said eventually, a tentative smile crossing her face.

"Of course it was," Hanabi said dismissively. "Father said I might spend some time teaching you, did he not? You know that he wouldn't have let a hint of that cross his lips if he wasn't sure I could handle it—both in the teaching, and in the knowing it for myself."

Hinata could not argue with that, and her shoulders slumped slightly. It was true enough, she knew. But why did Hanabi always have to fling it in her face? Only, she knew even as she thought it, that it only made sense—

Hanabi should've been the heir. Or Neji-niisan. Not her, not when of the three of them she was so far behind that someone five years her junior and still in the Academy was teaching her the family taijutsu. A silence fell between the two sisters as Hinata considered that. She could not argue, though her heart wanted to as she'd never asked to be born first either.

"Why did you say yes?" Hinata asked quietly, as she sipped from a cup of once cold but now lukewarm water and glanced sideways at Hanabi.

She got an irritable shrug for her trouble.

"Can't have you disgracing the Hyuuga name," her little sister pointed out. "It's shameful, that's what it is. First Clan in the village and our heiress is one of the weakest ninja her age? And it does me good to teach it—it's another way to learn it and make sure I know it all as well as I should."

Hinata shook her head. She didn't know what else she'd expected for an answer but that wasn't it. She couldn't say that she was surprised, but…

"Father has not yet laid to rest the plans he had for your engagement," Hanabi observed. "What do you think?"

Hinata glanced at her sister, surprised that Hanabi was voluntarily talking to her, even if it was just to pry. "It was the smart thing to petition him to put it off for a few years before making any decision," Hinata said. "Beyond the fact that Neji-niisan and I are not well suited, there is the problem of both of us currently pursuing an active career as shinobi—too much would be left up to chance so early, and it'd be easy enough for one or the other of us to get cut down in the middle of battle. His plans, of course, haven't changed. It's merely postponed."

Hanabi looked at the ground for a long moment. "I don't understand you," she said finally. "You ask for something, and then when you don't get it—and you never ask for anything so the fact that you went and _did_ means that it's important to you but…"

"I don't understand you either," Hinata returned levelly.

"You're so soft," Hanabi said, ignoring Hinata's comment with a stubborn lift of her chin. "You don't get it, not the way that it's supposed to be. Instead you keep dreaming your dreams and hoping that magically they'll come true. You don't _fight_ for anything."

"Hanabi, I–"

"I don't want to hear it," Hanabi told her. "We're too different, your point of view makes no sense to me and mine makes no sense to you. You know that. We both do know it, don't even try to lie about that."

She wasn't going to. It was the pure and simple truth. Hinata knew it in the way that Hanabi breezed through life with easy confidence and cool calculation while she, herself, stuck to the shadows and tried to divert attention away. She knew it in the way that her father, who was busy, had agreed to let Hanabi, who was five years younger than she, to train her. That was where she stood with the clan, and she could not forget it.

Hinata couldn't help but wish for a moment that she could've been born with all that skill. All that pure confidence, that steadiness. She was getting better, it was true, but it was still a long, up-hill battle and she wasn't sure if she'd ever catch up.

She knew that if she put that into words, in her letters to Naruto that he'd merely write something back that read along the lines of: 'well, then, go ahead and catch up. Don't let them get you down, Hinata-chan!' And, in a way, he'd be right. But at the same time…

It wasn't that easy.

"Just because we don't understand each other," Hinata said, the words falling heavily into the silence of the training room. "Doesn't mean that we can't try to."

Hanabi stared at her, eyes narrowed suspiciously. "_Excuse _me?"

"We can try," Hinata repeated, hoping she was doing the right thing and that this wouldn't horribly backfire like so many things did on her. "Try to understand each other."

She waited to see what would happen. If her sister would explode into a rant, or just coldly ignore her as was her wont depending on her mood. Hanabi, however, just continued to stare at her for a moment, then two, until it was as if the silence was growing louder and louder around them and Hinata braced herself for the refusal when…

"I'll think about it," Hanabi snapped, sweeping out of the room in a huff, her black hair flaring furiously behind her and irritation expressed in the set of her body.

Hinata smiled.

* * *

She stretched, closing her eyes and letting the muscles in her back pull and relax with the movement, before stepping away from the counter and heading for the window. It was night, and Kurenai found herself idly wondering how Asuma and his team were doing on their mission.

Not of her concern really, except for where he was involved. She didn't even know which direction they'd headed off in.

Shooing those thoughts away with a small shake of her head, Kurenai had to laugh softly at her own foolishness. What, was she a silly little Academy student with more romance than sense? Sillier than she'd ever been while actually in the Academy.

Another laugh, and she settled herself neatly in the window seat, drawing her knees close to her chest, one hand brushing her hair away from her face. Kurenai had never been much for silliness in school, too serious and quiet to bother with a lot of it, and then even moreso after her parents had been killed while on separate missions. That had been a bad month.

Determined to keep to her good humor though, Kurenai stared out the window, letting a smile curve her lips as she watched the village. It was all going well for the moment, as well as it could be at least—there were always dangers, and threats, of course—but it was moments like this when the threats seemed, for a few days, to be far away.

It was a while later, maybe an hour, when there was a soft knock on her door. Kurenai unfolded herself gracefully from the window seat, setting aside her mug of tea as she passed by the counter, and raised her eyebrows as she recognized Kiba's chakra signature.

She opened the door just as he'd raised his hand to knock again.

"Kurenai-sensei," he said, looking awkward and his hand drifting to rub the back of his neck. "Good evening." At his feet Akamaru gave a soft bark and wagged his tail.

She stepped to the side, gesturing for them to come in. "Kiba, Akamaru," she said, smiling slightly. "Do come in. Was there anything I could get you to drink?"

"No thanks," he said, slipping off his shoes as closed the door behind them. "Maybe some water for Akamaru though, Kurenai-sensei."

"Not a problem," she assured him. "Have seat, please."

Getting water for Akamaru didn't take long, but she deliberately spent a bit of time setting tea on and obtaining a plate of cookies—not too sweet, as she didn't much care for sweets—and when she set it all down on the table, a saucer of water for Akamaru going to the floor, she watched with her student with half-lidded eyes.

He was nervous, she noted, and uncomfortable. She knew it wasn't her apartment, as all three of her students had spent more than one evening here going over their training schedules with her, or asking questions about what had happened on missions.

She knew her students though, and while both Shino and Hinata did better when she asked them questions—sly sideways ones, in Shino's case, and more direct and pointed ones, for Hinata—of the three of them, Kiba was the one that you had to wait out and let him speak in his own time.

As such, Kurenai helped herself to a cup of tea, pouring one for him as well, despite his negation of her offer, and settled back on the couch chatting idly about the weather—winter rains, for the most part, or rather chilly days—as she kept an eye on Kiba while he slowly relaxed and gathered his thoughts.

His feet had led him to her door, it was time to wait for the rest of him to catch up and decide what to say. Luck, or rather, not luck but experience, had her more than able to make small talk as she watched him slowly drink the tea he'd said he didn't want. Patience and solid small talk were skills that she'd easily honed over time, and was able to easily keep up a steady stream of mild, inoffensive words while her most impetuous student made up his mind.

Akamaru rested on the ground by Kiba's feet, lapping at the water now and again. Kurenai, as she always did when it came to this pair, made equally sure to keep an eye on Akamaru's moods as well—they were often a truer indication of Kiba's state of mind than his face.

"Kurenai-sensei," he said finally, setting his cup down and rubbing at the back of his neck.

A nervous habit, she noted. One he'd have to be careful of out in the field. Kurenai merely tilted her head at him, letting her carefully constructed stream of chatter still and waited for him to continue. Patience, with all her team, was a must.

Just in different forms.

It took him awhile, but he did eventually continue. "I messed up on our last mission," he said, turning the cup in his hands and not looking directly at her.

It had been an simple mistake, one that would've gone unremarked upon until they'd been back in the village had it not happened and they'd been overheard by bandits. A simple retrieval mission, a laugh at the wrong moment, and they'd had to fight their way out.

"You did," she said mildly. She'd already brought it up for discussion with the team, this wasn't a surprise, and she wasn't going to mince words even though Kiba winced at it. "Not irreparably, thanks goodness."

"Shino and Hinata kept it together," he said slowly, as if the words were being dragged out of him. "I just fought."

Kurenai merely watched him, her red eyes thoughtful.

"…they shouldn't have had to be the ones to keep it all together. I should've helped."

She leaned back against the couch and considered him. "What do you want to do about it?"

He was right, she wouldn't soften that. It wasn't her way. He'd made a mistake; he had to find his own way to fix it. She'd help, she'd suggest, but it had to be up to him.

"I've been… thinking about it," came the answer, low and reluctant, "and it's not the first time they've kept it all from messing up worse when I could've helped, is it?"

"It's not," she said calmly. "You have, in my own observations though, improved greatly in the time you've been under my command."

Entirely the truth.

He looked pleased for a moment before deflating. Akamaru rested his head on his paws and huffed. "I need to get better at it, even with the improvements… that's what I've been thinking, Kurenai-sensei. Or else… I'm going to keep screwing up and it's eventually going to cost _them_ bad."

That earned him an approving nod.

"I – Kurenai-sensei, I know you've given me a few pointers on it before," he took a deep breath. "Can you help me more? Hana's done her best, but she and Mom have been too busy lately and I… don't want to wait."

"I'll help," she assured him, pleased in his initiative, once he'd trailed off. "That's what I'm here for, right?"

He laughed.

Kurenai got up, gathering the empty cups to take to the kitchen.

"Kurenai-sensei?" Kiba said quietly. "Thanks."

* * *

The water was warm and slick and wet on her skin. Ino sank into the empty hot spring with a sigh bourn entirely of delight for the temperature of it all. It had been a long busy day and she was glad of the chance to rest.

For all of the running around she'd had to do though, things had been quiet. The hitae-ite was still branded into her memory and she knew better than to think that perhaps she'd truly been mistaken and so her guard couldn't be put down, but at the same time…

At the same time, she was only fourteen, nothing had happened in twenty-four and some odd hours, it was her first real undercover mission, and the bath was really very relaxing. Ino thought that it'd do no one any harm if she let herself just… drift amongst the water for a little bit. But just a _little_.

Brown hair, hers though it still struck her as odd at times--though, really, now an oddity that she was mostly accustomed to--fanned out around her as she went underwater for a space of four breaths before surfacing with a small laugh, and then reaching for the soap.

It was late, though not so late that she'd be regretting it tomorrow when she had to be up at the crack of dawn to care for the little hime, and Ino had promised Megumi-san that she'd be back in the room before midnight for sure.

Megumi-san had simply laughed at that and told her to watch out, and at the same time be glad of the energy her youth gave her.

At that, Ino had only grinned, and then headed to her current destination.

It was a relief, just being in the hot water, letting it sink into her and ease up the constant stress of having to be someone else. She didn't know what precautions exactly that Megumi-san was taking about the Chuunin who were not, apparently, really Chuunin of Iwa despite their claims—and one of the maids had said that they had the tattoos of the Iwa nation, and wasn't that exciting?

Ino hadn't asked what the maid had been doing to see those tattoos – that was obvious and the very idea made her lip curl. Ew. Talk about gross. Who'd want to sleep with them? She'd reported the facts, as she'd understood them, to Megumi-san though. Ino was glad, for once, of her age in that it gave Megumi-san an excuse to publicly (well, in the servants mess hall, at least) scold her into promising that she'd not do anything so silly as all of that.

Ino was glad for small mercies. She was a loyal kunoichi, to be sure, but still--sleeping with the enemy on her first mission would've been far too hard.

The water was soothing, like a balm for frazzled nerves, and she couldn't help but wonder just how long this mission would go on for. It was… well, definitely a challenge, and she knew good and well that the dye in her hair and the tan of her skin wouldn't last forever. More than anything that meant it couldn't be such a long time .

Otherwise, a different brand of dye would've been used.

Ino took solace in that. The mission, however exciting was still large and frightening in her mind and part of her, though she'd never say it aloud, wished that the rest of her team was closer.

It didn't matter that they weren't even all the way across town. Ino wanted them around, even if it was just to argue. A fight with Shikamaru would be nice at the moment as a way to relieve some of the stress she'd been forced to tuck under Junko-chan's mask.

Grin and bear it.

She was getting better at that, she knew. Megumi-san had begun teaching her, furtively, a little of the hand language the more advanced operatives learned, and she knew better than to think something like that meant she was a disappointment. She wasn't.

If she'd been doing badly, well then, no doubt she'd still have learned a bit just in case, but the extra lessons in the middle of brushing her hair, or eating supper or breakfast--even during walks in the gardens where each flower had to be stopped and sniffed by Aiko-sama and Ino could only be there and try not to wince when the little girl called a violet a tulip--wouldn't have happened. It was, well, almost peaceful.

Which, she knew, was the most dangerous impression of all. But it was so hard to keep up the façade all the time and Ino found herself, without quite realizing it, humming a few bars of a song her mother had sung her when she was a child before she realized it. Small comforts.

Ino took her time in the bath, making sure to wash her hair very thoroughly and then scrub her body until it was pink and clean and she felt like she might be herself underneath all of the Junko-chan she'd been being lately. Ino wished for a fight, but knew better than to misstep that badly out of character.

Junko-chan wouldn't, therefore she _couldn't,_ no matter how much she wanted to.

Clambering out of the hot spring, drying off, Ino slipped into the worn robe she'd brought with her—it was soft against her skin, if slightly too long for her height—and toweled her hair off roughly while sitting on the bench she'd put her things on while she'd bathed. It was, really, one thing to bathe, but it was another thing entirely to take your time about it and relax.

When she'd finished brushing her hair, the brown strands falling loose around her face and down her back, Ino neatly packed her basket of things away, doing a quick check to make sure that she hadn't left anything laying around (she hadn't) before settling the basket on her hips and heading out the of the baths.

She wasn't going to miss Megumi-san's deadline, she still had a solid half an hour at least and Ino was taking her time down the halls—mostly quiet now, what with the majority of the staff sleeping. It was in between shifts and the night works were just going to bed and yet too early for the day workers to be getting up.

Two shadows in front of her made her pause. Ino glanced up and forced a smile on her face, training letting her keep it looking real.

"Good evening, shinobi-san," she said meekly as the two that guarded the Daimyo most often came down the hall in her direction. No matter, she had passed their rooms. They'd probably just finished their shifts.

"Out late?" one of them said with a laugh and her heart beat faster as she realized that two others had just stepped out from the rooms behind her. She hadn't even heard the doors sliding open.

"Just at the baths," she said, carefully moving to inch past them, all wide-eyed innocence and wondering, hoping like mad that she hadn't done anything that'd have them suspect…

Her hopes were dashed with his next words.

"And where do you think you're going, _Kunoichi-chan_?"

Fear rang in her ears as her breathing hitched with barely suppressed panic.

_Shit_.

* * *


	12. Chapter 9: Miscalculated

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 09 Miscalculated  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 9 of ? Unbeta'd. Sorry 'bout the delay. That being said, thanks to all of you who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

_Shit, shit, shit._ Her thoughts were racing, her mouth dry with pure fright, and Ino knew she had to say something, already the pause was going on too long, too long, surely, to protest her innocence and say anything that could help this.

Megumi-san's voice, the memory of it, rang through her mind with the force of whirlwind as she slowly backed away from the shinobi. _Stay in character!_

In character, in character. Okay, she had to be able to do that. Had to. It wasn't over yet, they might just be guessing, and judging her reaction. "K-Kunoichi," she stammered, eyes wide, her best 'you've got to be joking' expression on her face, somewhere, under all the fright that was purely unfeigned, "me?"

Not the best, but it was the first thing that came to mind. Hopefully they'd take her long silence and backing away a natural reaction for a civilian to have. Ino didn't think she'd ever hoped for anything so much before.

She couldn't read their faces, couldn't tell what they were thinking, all she could do was keep up the act. Her trembling wasn't entirely fake, she was scared, make no mistake, there were four of them, only one of her, and she was so outclassed that it was nearly a miracle that she wasn't dead just because they didn't like what she looked like.

The shinobi glanced between themselves and she bit her lip, wanting to bolt, to fight, to do something other than just _stand_ there and shake like the civilian girl she had to play. Hopefully, and that was the only thing she could do, was hope, that the look boded well for her.

_Stay in character, stay in character..._

She'd never hear the end of it, if she made it out alive, if she broke character now. Ino could imagine the comments about not being able to hold up under pressure. So, she let herself tremble, and shake and look as terrified as she felt because they were four Jounin and she was just one _unarmed_ Genin and if those weren't the worst odds ever she didn't know what were.

"Grab her," the first shinobi said, sounding bored. Ino couldn't help the wish that that was a good sign, that he was bored because she was boring and just a civilian, but she couldn't tell if she'd convinced him or not.

Either way, the shinobi behind her moved and it took everything that Ino had to fight like a civilian—all awkward kicking, flailing arms, and giving a short scream as she did so. It was pathetic, but it was _meant_ to be. And the fear was very real, and very present.

_Stay in character, stay in character..._

It was awful letting herself go down, taken easily despite her 'efforts' to get free. But the more useless they thought her, the better her chances of surviving. She had to believe that as a sharp rap across the back of her head sent her spiraling down into unconsciousness.

_Amaya-san,_ she thought fuzzily, before everything went black, _I stayed in character..._

* * *

No one needed so much ground, he decided, staring out at the expanse of carefully cultivated gardens and deliberately charming streams and ponds. But then, of course, perhaps if he was a daimyo he'd feel differently about that. Somehow, Yuuta doubted that. He's a practical man, and none of this is practical. Just gilt and flash to distract the eye and impress those with less money to waste.

Not to mention the fact that it really did make it quite difficult for his team to adequately keep tabs on their mission.

The one thing to be grateful for, he thought, shifting slightly and soundlessly in the tree he has perched himself up in, is that it's not raining. That doesn't change the fact that it's still wet though, but Yuuta is glad enough for small mercies after six hours up in the same tree. He's had worse, the six months of guard duty through Kusa coming to mind, but the wet has sunken into his skin and bones by now and he'll be glad enough when he can warm up.

He shifts again, frowning. He's uneasy, but unsure why. It's like an itch along the back of his spine, the worry he feels tonight. Nothing more to go on but a feeling, an instinct really—but he'd gotten to where he was by listening to his instincts. They've saved his life more than once.

He doesn't know it but they'll save his life again tonight.

The itch worsens not long before midnight and he spends a few moments, seconds really, wrestling with himself about waiting for his relief, before shaking his head. Utterly quiet, not even the creak of the white armour all ANBU wear, gives him away as he slides out of the tree, and quick as a flash makes for Hoshino's position.

He knew something had gone wrong, with the mission, with her, before he reached her position. There was no mistaking the scent of blood in the air and he slowed, suppressing his chakra even further to keep anyone from sensing him if they hadn't already, and mentally cursed his hesitation in moving from his post. If he'd moved earlier…

Then he might be dead too. Yuuta knew that, had no time for regrets now, the mission was falling to pieces around their ears and he had to salvage what he could. A quick check proved that, yes, Hoshino was dead. He lifted her dog tags, pocketing them, and left her where she lay. She was concealed enough for now, and he had the rest of his team to ascertain their whereabouts.

That, of course, would be when he felt their mission's chakra flare wildly. He froze for a second, before fingers grabbed up his transmitter and flicked it on. Radio's had their own risks, they could be tapped, and traced, but he had an agent dead on the ground and a Genin who was in way over her pretty little head to pull out of the mission.

Before he could speak there was a rustle in the grass. He flicked off the transmitter even as his eyes scanned the ground and Yuuta relaxed only slightly when he realized that he recognized the small furry shape that was darting towards him.

Kneeling in the grass, he held out his hand so that the tiny mouse could skitter into his palm. "Dai," Yuuta said, standing and ducking into the cover of one of the mostly ornamental trees that adorned the garden, his voice so quiet that it barely even would count as a whisper, "what's going on? And keep it quiet." Kotone wouldn't have sent the mouse just for a basic report. It was with barely a thought that he sent a smidge of chakra to his ears to enhance their hearing. He'd need it, with a mouse speaking quietly.

He felt, rather than saw, the distressed twitch of whiskers that query gained him.

"Blood," the mouse said, radiating distress, "You smell of blood."

Yuuta fought back a sigh. "It's not mine," he said, giving Dai a reassuring pat. "Report."

He supposed that he couldn't get too irritated with Kotone for not sending a mouse that was better suited to battle, considering the restraints she was under, but that did not stop him from sparing the seconds it took the little guy to gather his thoughts to wish for it.

Dai stood on his hind legs, and Yuuta could see the faint hint of the white fur patterned in the symbol of Konoha, a little leaf, on the mouse's belly. "Kotone-sama is ordering a code blue," came the chittering answer, and before Yuuta could draw breath, rattled on into the finer details of the report.

As he listened, Yuuta's heart sank. It wasn't a good report, though it gave him a better idea of just what had gone horribly wrong. No wonder then that already he'd lost one agent, and if his guess was right, he might have lost several more.

"Dai," his voice, if anything, was even quieter than before, "how quickly can you get back to Kotone?"

"Minutes," came the squeak, "easier to return."

"Good," he said, "that's good. I need you to get back to her and tell her that we've got a code red on our hands and agents down." That got a chitter of dismay. "We're pulling out, effective immediately. Meet up at point A. If she can't get out, then she's to keep the chit alive until we can get the both of them out. Understood?"

Dai nodded, though it was more of a bob of the head than a nod, and rattled the message back at him, word-for-word.

"Go," Yuuta said, setting the mouse down on the grass. "Quickly."

Dai gave an affirmative squeak, and was gone so quickly that Yuuta lost track of the little guy between one blink of the eye and another. Before he even paused to take another look around, he was speaking into his radio, telling the rest of his team, to get out and get out fast.

"Found him," a voice he didn't recognize said, just as he'd finished with his orders to his team, and the voice was soft enough that he could tell that had he not had chakra enhancing his hearing he wouldn't have been able to catch it. Instinct sent him rolling across the ground, a kunai flying over-head as the enemy shinobi swore.

He got to his feet, still moving, always moving, and caught a glimpse of his attacker. No hitae-ate, he registered, but moving like a Jounin. That would have been worse had he been planning to stay and fight.

Right now though, Yuuta had more important things to do than fight. He had to get out of here, and regroup. Kei hadn't answered the radio. Shimako and Kobayashi had. Down at least two, no guarantee that the rest of them would get out alive…

Yuuta flung a kunai back at his attacker, smirking slightly as the other was caught unaware by the smoke tag attached to the hilt—and, while the smoke billowed out, obscuring the immediate area, Yuuta ran.

Being a _good_ ANBU meant that you were deadly, used to danger, and excellent at judging the odds. Yuuta had been in ANBU for three years already, which was longer than most. This scenario, he knew, would help no one if he stayed and fought right now.

There was a different sort of pride in knowing when to cut your losses and get out, no matter what the situation.

A kunai whistled past his ear, and his grin tightened. He'd get out of this alive, not because he was strong, or because he was clever—though skill had him admitting that he was both rather strong and clever, all things considered. False modesty had no place inside your own head, after all.

Yuuta ran.

* * *

Sweat beaded down her spine, a compliment to the way it was soaking the band she had in her hair to keep it from her eyes. There was a fine trembling in her arms—they were unaccustomed to the weight of this weapon, and she was still building the strength to use it for long periods of time. Her breathing was rough in her throat and she knew that sooner, rather than later, she would have to take a break, cool down, shower, then go and meet up with her team for their training session with Gai-sensei.

Tenten was also aware that it could, in some lights, be considered madness to be training so hard _before_ subjecting herself to her sensei. No one would ever call him an easy one, despite his… eccentricities.

After her utterly humiliating defeat in the preliminaries of the Chuunin Exam Tenten had taken a good, long and hard look at her weapons arsenal and had come up with the undeniable fact that she'd been a fool to not have notice her most blatant weakness before. Yes, as a girl, she knew that the long range weapons were easier to handle—they were, after all, made to be light enough to carry many, to throw, and not many people could do that with the heavier weapons.

But that didn't change the fact that it was up to her to shore up that weakness the best she could. She'd gotten spoiled, a bit, by the fact that between Lee and Neji she seldom _had_ to close in and fight close-range. And, sure enough, the both of them were better than she was at it, but that didn't mean she had had to have been so neglectful of it. Which she had been, and couldn't blame on anyone else. In a way, Tenten supposed, she should be glad of the fact that her lesson had come in a relatively controlled environment and not out in the field.

She almost absently corrected her footwork, and swung the mace in the controlled arc she was learning, before dipping and spinning with it. The effort it took so that the heavier weapon did not throw her off balance was exhausting, but she took pride in the fact that it took less now than it had when she'd first started. And she did like the mace, it felt more comfortable to her hand than a hammer, and though the flail was more comfortable than the mace, the entire point of this was to get in close and dirty.

A flail, after all, was still too long range. She'd made a note to learn it though, once she'd gotten proficient enough for her tastes with the mace. Going, though, from how heavy she still found it, that'd be awhile.

Focusing on her practice again, just a little bit longer she promised herself, Tenten lost track of time until the sound of familiar footsteps brought her out of it. She grimaced, having not wanted to have her training become commonly known until she was slightly better at it—it didn't effect missions as of yet because she wasn't carrying it with her.

"What is it Lee?" she called, upon hearing the footsteps pause outside the room. "It's late."

"I am sorry, Tenten-san," he said, sliding the door open and sounding far too awake for her liking considering the time of night. "It was not my decision to come and disturb you so far past reasonable hours."

She waited for him, while she finished the move she was on and moved to the next one. Just one more and then she'd cool down for the night. No point in rushing things in an attempt to hide them now, there was no way it would escape his notice.

"A new weapon?" he asked, grinning. "Aha! So your will burns brightly in the secret hours."

Finishing her last exercise with the mace, she set it in the rack on the side of the room and falling into her cool down exercises. That got a laugh out of her though, she quickly added spoke though to get rid of the momentary flash of hurt on Lee's face. "A new weapon," Tenten agreed. "Close range, which is different. I'm expanding my repertoire."

Lee was many things but he wasn't stupid. "Since the Chuunin preliminaries?"

"About that long," she agreed. "Couldn't just let myself stay with a weakness like that, you know? After all, I won't always have you and Neji around to do the close range fighting while I pelt them from afar."

"As long as there was breath in my body I would do my best!" Lee told her.

"I know," by now, after two years, she understood him better than most and that was sweet of him to say, "but we won't always be sent on the same missions. So I've got to get stronger."

He nodded, eyes serious though his grin all but gleamed in the light of the lanterns that she'd put up. "Admirable! But why not in practices yet?"

She flushed a bit. "I will," Tenten promised, "I just wanted to learn the basics on my own first before bringing it into practice. I'm not good enough yet to take it with us on missions so I'd rather not waste time when we could be working on something that is useful."

Another nod and Lee fell down beside her to work on cool down stretches with her, though he hadn't, as far as she knew, been doing anything strenuous. "We will help fan the flames of your youth, surely, Tenten."

And that was something she found special. "I know," she said, ducking her head as she reached for her ankle, "but I needed to fan them first on my own."

"How long until you think you'll bring it to Gai-sensei?" Lee asked, as she started on her arm stretches next.

Tenten thought about that. "I'm not sure," she caught sight of his face, and sighed. "I wasn't lying, Lee. It's just something I've been doing on my own. It's still too heavy for me to use effectively."

He perked up, and she knew that boded for much pain on her part in the near future. "Then I, and no other, will help you gain strength enough to swing it without ever breaking a sweat."

And from the way he was looking hopefully at her, she couldn't say no. "Alright," Tenten said, and his smile was like the sun coming up.

They continued stretching, in comfortable silence, for another few minutes before Tenten asked suddenly, "Why were you looking for me anyway, Lee?"

"Gai-sensei says we have a mission," came the answer, and Tenten didn't have time enough to draw breath to berate him for not telling her right away when he continued with, "we leave at two." Unspoken was the obvious fact that they'd be leaving at two in the morning. She glanced sidelong at the clock. Almost one. It wasn't surprising, really, that he'd not been in a rush to say anything. They had the time.

"I'm going for a shower," Tenten said, finishing her last stretch. "I'll be back in fifteen. Keep a watch out here, will you?"

He promised and she darted from the room.

* * *

If chakra could be seen in colour then she'd classify Ino-kun's as a vibrant, pulsing electric blue. A colour that was more than a match for those blue eyes that mimicked the bluest summer skies. Hers, Megumi supposed, she'd classify more as a mauve. Older, wiser, and more ingrained in how to react.

Ino-kun's chakra, though she could not see it, was by now a rather comfortable hum in the back of her head as she kept track of her charge. And rolled her eyes when Ino-kun decided upon an extra-long bath. Though, rather, it was the thing an ordinary girl might do as well. Megumi rather thought that she'd let it slide this time.

She'd just set down her hairbrush, and been moving to air out the futons when Ino-kun's chakra flickered wildly.

Megumi knew that she didn't have much time. If Ino-kun had been captured then no doubt they'd come for her next. She could only base her reactions, though, on the way that Ino-kun had been taken. If she had, after all, managed to get taken as merely a civilian, then things were still dire, but not nearly so badly.

And if she'd been taken as a kunoichi, then things would be quite a lot messier. If Ino-kun wasn't killed outright, then that would mean torture and interrogation, and she doubted that a Genin, however skilled Ino-kun was at certain things, could withstand that for long. ANBU agents had training to resist such techniques.

Rather than go and race for Ino-kun, Megumi forced herself to continue as if she had nothing on her mind but getting ready for bed, continuing to air out the blankets, and even going so far as to brush her teeth while she stretched her senses to try and analyze the link to Ino-kun's chakra.

Flaring for a few minutes then, abruptly, the flare disappeared and she had a split second of fearing the worst before she realized that, yes, Ino-kun's signature was still there, merely subdued. Likely, she thought, Ino-kun was unconscious. Better than dead, though that did not help her to make her own move.

To be entirely honest though, there were not so many moves that she could make. That was the largest problem with missions like this—never enough information and always too much time spend simply weighing options and knowing that, if nothing else, cover had to be held. It was the best, and in this case, nearly the only weapon she had besides her body.

Taijutsu was a strong point of hers, after all. It was one of the things that made the Hokage order her on so many missions where other weapons weren't feasible. Like this one, she had a few pins, a few needles—all of them, though, were precisely the same as any other servant on the floor. Every woman needed pins for her hair, after all, and you could hardly be a household servant if you could not sew with more than passing fairness. Her brain then, and her body.

And chakra, of course, but that wasn't something she'd use here unless it was necessary to break cover entirely. It wasn't unheard of, after all, for a woman—especially a parentless one like their cover story had stated—to have some small skill in the martial arts.

Maintaining her own cover, now that she knew that Ino-kun had not been killed outright, was the first order of business though, and Megumi had confidence in that. The picture of pure ease, the movements of a servant who was tired, who wished to sleep, but nonetheless was staying up to wait for a younger sister, she settled herself on the edge of her futon, brushing her hair once more. A blanket, carelessly draped over her feet, added to the image, and now all she could do was wait and see. And plan the words she would like to have with Hokage-sama if they all made it out of this. On a mission like this, security and Intel ought to have been more thorough.

It wasn't that long, no more than a few minutes, though ever second stretched out almost painfully in her head as she kept her body in a state of hyper awareness, before she heard something that she had not expected.

The soft squeaking that heralded the arrival of one of her summons—and the only one she had out and active was Dai-chan. Megumi didn't flinch, and wasn't surprised when a few seconds later, there was the scrabbling of little paws and the press of a cold nose against her ankle. The tug of fabric as Dai wriggled his way up to her lap likewise provoked no reaction other than to lean over and more firmly drape a blanket around her, looking for all the world as if she was merely cold.

She didn't know if anyone was watching her at the moment or not—but it was better to assume that there were observers and to stay in role. That was the key during an undercover mission. Don't break the role, ever. Not even for a second because someone, the chances were, would notice and then you'd be inviting trouble.

Dai eventually made his way up to her shoulder, completely hidden by her hair, and Megumi didn't speak, just waited for him to tell her what Yuuta wanted.

"Code red," Dai-chan said, his whiskers brushing against her neck. "Meet up at point A. He's got agents down."

Her blood ran cold. That, then, was more than a simple slip that Ino-kun had made where she might have been seen by one of the shinobi guarding the daimyo. This had been coordinated, and that made it that much less likely that they were to live. But Ino-kun was still alive, she reminded herself, and so, she couldn't run. Not until she knew for certain what the situation they'd found themselves in was.

If they knew for sure that Ino-kun was a kunoichi, after all, then it might be better for her to run, and hope she could extract her before anything too traumatic happened. As it was though, she just listened as Dai-chan went on detailing what had gone on. Agents down… that was bad. Even worse was the fact that he'd not said a number. That meant he didn't know, and she could only hope that the whole team hadn't been taken out. Konoha couldn't afford to lose more shinobi. Not so soon after Oto had attacked.

"Head to that point then," she murmured, deciding that the risk was worth it, "tell them we'll come if we can."

She doubted it though, not from the way Ino-kun's chakra had flared so wildly, then been quieted. That earned her another press of a cold mouse nose against her neck, and then she was silent as Dai made his way down her body and squirming back under the floorboards.

It wasn't long after that, that a knock sounded on her door.

She waited a minute, knowing it would look no good to go for the door quickly when she was supposed to just be waiting for a sister who was taking longer than she'd promised in the baths. When she did get up, setting the blanket aside, and answered the door, sliding it open. She did so and started talking before, really, she (as Megumi) ought to have noticed anything amiss.

"Junko-chan, geez," she said, sounding exasperated, "you were supposed to be back _ages_ ago. What were you thinking, making your sister worry—" her voice trailed off in a squeak of dismay as 'Megumi' noticed what was up with 'Junko'.

For her part, as herself, and not as anyone else, she was relieved to see that yes, Ino-kun was unconscious and slung over the shoulders of one of the nin, wet brown hair soaking into his shoulder. She didn't look injured beyond a few bruises. That much, at least, she could be glad for.

"Junko-chan!" Megumi cried, moving to go to her sister. "What happened to her? Did she faint from the baths?"

She felt, rather than saw, the looks the shinobi were giving each other over her head. Inwardly she smiled, though she was outwardly all solicitous in urging them into the room, thanking them profusely for bringing Junko back to her, and wouldn't they like a cup of tea? Megumi fussed about, knowing that every inch of doubt she could plant in their minds about them actually being shinobi was an inch of doubt that would help keep them alive longer.

As they accepted tea, though she noted that they glanced at who had to be the commander (a tall, dark-skinned shinobi with deep green hair) for confirmation before taking it. She pretended to not see the way one of them was scoping out the room, checking for weapons—and here, she was glad that they'd find none, no matter how long they looked—and equally seemed to remain clueless about how only one of them actually drank the tea.

In case of poison, she knew. It wouldn't do for an entire team to go down just because they were all stupid enough to drink the same thing from the same source. She smiled encouragingly and sipped at her own tea, noting how they relaxed slightly at that, before moving over to fuss over Ino-kun, stealthily checking for any less obvious injuries and openly bemoaning the foolishness of little sisters that spent so long in hot water that they over heated and fainted.

If she'd been an ordinary woman, then the slightest prick of the tip of a needle to the back of her neck would have gone unnoticed and she'd have tumbled into unconsciousness without ever realizing what had caused it.

As it was, she registered the needle, and even she let herself be taken by darkness, Kotone thought that was a good sign, all things considered. Gentle, then. They weren't sure about their identities now, and Ino-kun had managed well enough on her own to further that doubt.

Gentle, but dark.

* * *

He was walking down the hall of an apartment building and considering it thoughtfully. He knew good and well that Anko was more than capable of affording a nicer place (though this one wasn't bad, not by any stretch of the imagination), and he also knew that not even Kurenai, who was in all senses of the word but for blood, Anko's 'big sister' had not even tried to get the other kunoichi to consider the possibility of moving.

Ibiki thought about that as he slowly went up the stairs. No big deal, not really, just an idle thought. For all he knew, Anko liked saving a lot of her money. Or spending it all on booze. No elevators though this apartment had them, just stairs and that was good enough. He knew that in some of the bigger cities more and more places were adding in elevators—expensive things, those, and stupid for shinobi--it made anyone in them a sitting duck if you could gain control of the elevator, and that was easy enough with the right knowledge. He wasn't going to take that chance, even in the middle of Konoha. No one saw him, and even if they had they wouldn't have recognized him, though they'd have known exactly what he was.

This night, he went not as Ibiki, who was Anko's friend in some sense of the word, but rather as Morino Ibiki, Captain of ANBU's Torture and Interrogation Department. It was rare enough for him to do this, but then, he'd offered because Anko was hardly likely to be happy and he knew her better than many.

Wearing the white armour, the black uniform, the cloak, and most importantly the mask, Ibiki wasn't recognizable unless you knew that the spider on his mask was his. Very few did. He rarely went out on missions away from the city these days, spending more time dealing with those who were brought in for interrogation.

Anko would know it though. He rapped sharply on the door of apartment three seventeen and watched as the door wobbled from the force of it. That was just pathetic, he hadn't even been trying. It was ridiculously loose. He wondered if she'd even thought to complain to the landlord.

The door was flung open, Anko naked as the day she was born was there and snarling, "Do you _know_ what time it is?" Then she paused and took a good long look at him, and what he was wearing, and the casual anger in her eyes faded into something harder and brittle.

Her voice, when she next spoke, was flat and cold. "Get inside."

He obeyed; making sure that the door was shut behind him and watched while Anko tossed her jacket over her nakedness. More out of form than anything else, he knew. She wasn't body shy.

She scowled at him. "You going to take that mask off, Ibiki?"

That got a low, deep chuckle out of him and he pushed it up so that it was perched on his forehead. "Woke you up?"

"Just got in from a night out," she said, shrugging. "Hadn't gotten to sleep yet, was trying. What's with the uniform?"

In response he pulled a white mask out from under his cloak, this one with a snake on it, and tossed it at her. She caught it automatically, he could tell, there was no thinking behind the movement. Anko stared at him, almost expressionless. "Mitarashi Anko, Ninja Registration No.: 011226, you are hereby recalled into ANBU's service." Ibiki looked at her, almost compassionately. "Effective immediately."

"I got out of that hell hole years ago," she said blankly, turning the mask over in her hands, "and you're calling me back?"

"The scarlet spiral is a lifelong commitment," he answered her, "and he made the decision to end your vacation."

"And you came to tell me."

"I offered." He wasn't looking at her, Ibiki knew that tone of voice, looking at her would net him pain. "It was the least I could do. Give you someone you know to yell at."

"Yell at," and that got a bark of a laugh, "but I can't turn this down, can I?"

A long, slow shake of his head. She swore and he couldn't blame her. "They mentioned something about that," she muttered, "first time in, and I didn't pay attention. How often does this happen, Ibiki? Can you tell me that?"

"Not all that often," he told her. "We're not that cruel to shinobi that have already done their duty in it, and managed to leave alive. But right now, we need the people, and we need them to have more skill than the wet-behind-the-ears rookies that we're getting—and we're not getting enough of them either. Peace has made us soft. We've lost nearly every rookie in the last five years within the first eight months. People aren't prepared for thinking or acting the way ANBU needs."

She wasn't looking at him now, instead trying the mask on again. "Downside of peace," Anko said, with the mask on. "You lose the edge of war."

Ibiki nodded. "You're not the first shinobi we've recalled, and you're not going to be the last. There's agents going out tonight and giving people the news." ANBU was going to be real unpopular for that move, but Tsunade-sama had approved of the request and authorized the recalls.

"We're that bad off?"

"So far," he said, a deep rumble, "it's primarily precaution. We need the money for repairs, but there's rumours of a war brewing and Konoha being the one it's directed at."

"There's always rumours."

"But they're not always accompanied by deaths."

"Shit," Anko murmured. "Well, fuck. You need me right this second?"

"Hiromasa wants to talk to you."

She nodded, getting up and leaving her coat behind as she slipped into what he assumed was her bedroom and coming back out in her mesh dress with sandals on her feet. It was the work of seconds to get her hair under control, he didn't even have time to get bored, and then she was looking at him while swinging her coat back on and tucking the mask into it. He didn't ask how she managed to keep the mask from falling there. They'd have to get her properly outfitted at Headquarters.

Ibiki cracked a smile, but didn't share his thoughts. Being back in ANBU meant Anko would be wearing more clothing than she'd been for years.

"Let's go."

* * *

The streets were slowly drying, water still in puddles where the roads had dips in them and the ground was still quite wet, he just could just from walking on it and feeling the squish of it under his feet. Chouji wasn't sure whether to laugh or sigh over the fact that he was contemplating how long it would take to dry (would it even get a real chance to fully dry considering the winter rains?) rather than listen to Shikamaru repeat himself again.

It was well known that, of the three of them, Chouji had the most patience. Ino had it when she had to, when she was focused on a goal... well, then, she could outwait anyone. Shikamaru could when he was planning, when there was something to plan on. Neither of them, though, had the sort of patience that let him listen to Shikamaru, who'd been on variations of the same theme for days and not give into the urge to knock him out.

He realized that Shikamaru had paused, and tilted her head curiously at him while scanning the area—they were in a park, a small one, with a few scattered benches and some attempt at a playground for the kids—and he hadn't noticed anything out of the ordinary other than the fact that this was, technically, slightly closer to the Daimyo's mansion than Asuma-sensei had said they were to go.

Of course, Chouji thought, Asuma-sensei did not have to patrol with Shikamaru for half the day. He thought that just that small amount would be ignorable on the report they'd have to do when they got back, with a quick stop to pick up dinner, on the way. If there was something up though...

"What is it?" Chouji asked, watching the area more than Shikamaru. One look at his friend's face said that this was more than just annoyance at the whole situation, and he shifted his awareness up a notch.

"Something's wrong," came the muttered answer, "the moment we walked into the park my shadow started acting up."

Chouji sighed then, glancing sidelong at Shikamaru. "It's been acting up since we left Konoha," he didn't wait to hear what Shikamaru would have to say to that, "and no wonder, you're midway through working on—"

"That's not it," Shikamaru interrupted sharply. "It's _not_. I know what that feels like, and this is different."

He fell silent for a few seconds then, before replying to that. "Different dangerous?" Chouji asked, giving his friend the benefit of the doubt.

That got a half laugh, half snort, and the dry response, "Everything different is dangerous."

Well, and true enough. Chouji wasn't pleased with that though. "Different how? We're not even supposed to be here—"

"It's a _park._"

"—and you know good and well that Asuma-sensei didn't want us in this area. It's too close to—"

"I'm going to go look," Shikamaru said, stalking off towards, and here Chouji's heart sank further, towards the Daimyo's lands. "Come or not."

There really was only one answer to that, he thought with dismay. It wasn't like he'd ever be able to just... let his friend walk right into danger (_potential_ danger, he reminded himself) when he could go with him and help. No choice was a good one and Chouji bit back a curse as he followed after Shikamaru.

"You," Chouji murmured as he caught up, "if this turns out to be a false alarm, then you get to tell Asuma-sensei why we disobeyed his orders." Shikamaru nodded, and Chouji was going to take that as assent. There was no question of that. Chouji was not going to take the blame for this, if they found nothing.

If they _did_ find something, and it was useful, then that was a different matter. Though it didn't change the fact that they'd disobeyed orders.

The woods were quiet, this late at night it was a bit surprising, even in the village this size, there should have been more animals making noise. Of course, Chouji thought, it could just be that they were silent because of _them_, and that proved nothing.

He followed Shikamaru, just far enough behind that should something attack his friend he'd be able to do something about it. For now though, there was nothing, and the woods, though quiet, didn't seem threatening. It wasn't much of a wood, really, just the area between the park and the Daimyo's garden, and that had been left with the trees intact as it made little sense to cut them down.

"Weird," he murmured, mostly to himself as they leapt over the waist-high wall that marked the end of the park and into the gardens. Shikamaru glanced at him. "No guards."

And both of them knew that there should have been. The area was quiet, mostly devoid of any noise from night birds and other animals, but that didn't mean that much. For all they knew, it could be quiet because they were there. That was as likely as anything.

Chouji, slowly was starting to think that maybe there was really something going on rather than it all being just in Shikamaru's head. Admittedly, the distinct lack of guards had helped a great deal in that regard.

The second sign that something was several branches that had been broken, and the sharp scent of blood. He wasn't an Inuzuka, but Akimichi had excellent senses of smell all things considered and he shook his head, even as Shikamaru tugged out a kunai. "It's fresh."

How fresh, exactly, was hard to say in the dark, but there was no mistaking that smell, and the fact that it was even there meant...

"We should pull out," he said, and was unsurprised to see Shikamaru shake his head in the dark. Well, enough. Chouji hadn't really expected that he'd be listened to, but really, he felt that if they were going to get into a bad situation then he might as well be the voice of reason—so he could say I told you so when it all fell to pieces.

For all their preparation and alertness though, they almost didn't see the wounded ANBU. Shikamaru noticed him first and they both went quickly to him.

"What are ANBU doing here?" Shikamaru hissed, as they reached the man's side. Chouji just shrugged. He didn't know, but it didn't bode well.

"Sarutobi's brats," the man said, and behind his mask they couldn't see his expression. His voice, though, was easy enough to read and he was displeased.

Chouji frowned, even as Shikamaru demanded to know how the ANBU knew who they were, and scanned the area, hair-raising on the back of his neck.

"It doesn't matter," he said, overriding Shikamaru. "We've got to get out of here."

He didn't need light to see the fact that Shikamaru was annoyed. "Whoever attacked is still around," Chouji said, before Shikamaru could say anything. "If we want to be any use to Ino, we've got to get out of here, and get him to medical attention."

That got a rough bark of a laugh from the ANBU. "Good thinking, even better. Code Red's been called, we're to get our asses out of here."

It was normally Shikamaru in charge of planning and missions. It was Shikamaru that was the Chuunin, and it was Shikamaru that should've thought of getting out of here the moment they'd found more than the ghost of trouble.

It was Chouji, though, who helped the ANBU up. And Chouji who led the way out of the woods.

Shikamaru, for once, followed him.

* * *

Asuma was pacing, and fingering a cigarette though he'd not lit it quite yet, and wished once again that he could put his fingers on what was unsettling him tonight. At the very least, he was glad enough that he'd ordered the boys out to patrol the area again, and so he didn't have to continue to act as a mediator between the two of them. He wasn't sure what sort of disagreement they were having now, but it didn't seem like anything that was going to effect the mission, so he'd let it slide for another day or so before making them deal with it and put it to rest. _Teenagers_.

It was six long steps from one end of the room to the other. Asuma turned upon hitting as far as he could go and started back the other way while tossing a cigarette up in the air as he went. Catching it easily, he debated lighting it. Unable to decide, for the moment, he tossed it into the air again. He could only hope that the decision to smoke, or not smoke, a cigarette would be the hardest one he'd have to make this mission.

Teenagers, that was just it. Still just stupid kids, though they were trying. Asuma wondered if that was something to be proud of, or not. Konoha, under the rule of the Third, had managed enough peace, for long enough, that their shinobi were still relatively innocent at the age of fourteen. It hadn't been like that when he'd graduated. He could remember that much. By the time he'd been their age, his hands had been soaked in blood. War did that to people, Asuma knew that and he couldn't wonder at when the other hand was going to fall.

Fourteen years of peace, he thought, glancing out the darkened window. Something had to give. It wasn't as if it had been a steady peace, or a solid one. The treaty with Kumo—and the way they'd attempted to subvert it on the eve of the signing of it by kidnapping the Hyuuga Heir. The way that Oto had attacked, but even that there, the biggest attack they'd suffered in over a decade, besides the Uchiha massacre, and even that had not been much to the kids. They'd been to little, to removed to fully understand it.

_Fuck,_ he thought, putting things together in his head and not liking what he was coming up with. _We're screwed if a war breaks out._ On one hand, it was a good thing that they'd had peace for long. It had let the village grow, let them fix things after two wars in twenty years followed by Kyuubi attacking, and there were more active shinobi now than they'd had since before the wars had started. This peace had been long in coming and well used, but...

But, and this he knew well from having lived though it, it wasn't the numbers that turned the tide in war. It was the soldiers, and he was going to have to spend a good bit of time contemplating just what could be done about the fact that they had kids more than soldiers.

He'd been there, when Kakashi had turned Iruka down flat. _They are my soldiers now…_

They weren't though. Clever, sneaky, powerful – kids.

The only way to make a soldier, he knew, was through experience. Asuma lit his cigarette with no heed for the fact that this was against the regulations of the hotel, and puffed it as he leaned against the wall and stared out at the street below. There wasn't much to see, not in the dark, but it did help with the way he was feeling almost too constrained right that moment. He needed to stop thinking about this.

It wasn't anything he could do about while on a mission. Making a note though to talk to Tsunade-sama when they got back, Asuma took a drag on his cigarette and let the nicotine help soothe his jitters. Perhaps he'd been in the wrong in reacting so strongly to Ino's training and the mission. Fourteen years ago, kunoichi her age would be doing a mission like this with only a single shinobi, if that, for back up. None of this, we'll have your team on hand, a watcher in the situation with you, and an ANBU team on the side to keep an even closer eye on your safety.

Though, he admitted, Ino was nearly the only Yamanaka they had left. That might be a factor in the over-protectiveness of what was, really, an over-abundance of defenders. And Yamanaka was an old clan, not a power like Hyuuga, or even the Akimichi and Nara, but an old clan nonetheless. They'd been around since the start of the village, one of the first to join the growing Konohagakure. But they'd always been happy to be on the outskirts, to be themselves, and not be overly bothered with running the village. Or with having large families. He'd have to check census data to make sure, but Asuma was almost certain that the Yamanaka Clan was one of the smallest, if not the smallest in the village. Only Uchiha had been smaller, and that was because of the massacre.

That might be it, he mused. Though, again, it was hard to say for sure. Yet another thing to ask the Hokage. Or perhaps, even to ask Yamanaka Inoichi. He'd probably have a better concept of why and how most Yamanaka only had one child a generation. A fertility issue? He shook his head, this was pointless to be worrying about right now.

There was a rap on the window, and Asuma snuffed out his cigarette while keeping the movement looking casual. The rap was repeated, the careful pattern that had been decided upon from the beginning of the mission. It wasn't either Shikamaru or Chouji. Nor was it Kotone. ANBU then, though it was being rapped out more painstakingly and slower than was ordinarily expected, which was a cause for concern, but he couldn't deny the fact that it was the proper signal for being let in.

Asuma opened the window, stepping back, hands on his knives in the case of it coming to that. He hadn't been expecting, his thoughts more along the lines of an intruder who'd gotten the pattern from someone else, but it was Yuuta, ANBU mask askew, who came tumbling inside. The blue-haired man landed painfully on the soft carpet of the hotel, bleeding heavily.

He swore, shutting the window quickly and pulling the drapes, before he going to where the Yuuta was forcing himself into a seated position.

"Status?" Asuma said, scoping out the wounds and digging into his leg pouches for a blood replenisher and a general painkiller, while being relieved that, at least, on first glance, while the wounds bled heavily, the blood loss was the most life threatening thing. He could deal with blood loss. It was fixable. He offered the other man the pills, and his canteen to drink from.

Yuuta's lips twisted, darkly amused as he reached for the pills, taking them and swallowing them with a grimace. "We've been had," he said, working to strip off his armour and the all but skintight ANBU uniform with a scowl. "We've got agents down, and no fucking idea of what's going on. Last call, the girl was flaring her chakra like an Academy student."

Asuma was, all of a sudden, not feeling at all like a cigarette. "And her support?"

That got a half glare. "Unknown."

Asuma was going to breathe in at that and shove his feelings away, this wasn't the time to feel, this was the time to act. To work, to do something to get his student, still just a stupid kid, out of that situation. "How many agents down?" And his voice came out hard.

"At least two," Yuuta said, as Asuma retrieved several rolls of bandages from the packs. "The others , if they're alive, should be making their way here in the next few hours. As soon as they can and avoid detection at the same time."

He nodded, wrapping field bandages around the cuts on Yuuta's legs. "Who's down?" Asuma asked, knowing that it wouldn't help. "I can't remember their names."

Yuuta just shook his head, lips compressing into a thin line, though whether that was in reaction to the pain or the question Asuma didn't know. "Later."

Later, then, he could work with that. Too much information was just as bad as too little.

They'd just gotten the wounds fully bandaged, and Yuuta resting on the bed, fully awake and making plans, but not moving from where he was, and Asuma debating what to do with the blood in the carpet, when the door was rapped on carefully. Asuma doubted the proprietor would be pleased if they just left the blood. Awkward questions and all that.

He was striding over to the door, only pausing long enough to ascertain that the knock was in one of the patterns he'd taught them, and frowned upon realization of a third chakra signal out there. Were they being forced? He had a blade in hand when he opened the door, stepping back so he'd have room to maneuver if it came to that.

It didn't. Chouji had an ANBU, another injured man, half draped over his shoulders and Shikamaru's expression was shuttered and closed.

"Get inside," he said, hating what he was going to have to tell his students, "we've got trouble."

* * *


	13. Chapter 10: Misjudged I

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 10 Misjudged (Part I)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 10 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all of you that read, lurk, (and especially!) review. *loves*

* * *

Chouji was angry.

It wasn't anger like Ino's, not the quick-lash of snapping words, biting tones, and hasty retorts. It wasn't the anger that made him rage whenever someone insulted his weight, or his teammates.

Rather, it was a fury that simmered slowly, just under the surface, and for all that his other anger was more explosive this was a sort that would last longer and be less forgiving. He was angry, and it was Shikamaru's fault.

As Asuma-sensei helped him get the wounded ANBU to the other bed—one, he saw, already occupied by a blue-haired man with keen eyes and a sardonic parody of a smile on his face, and bandages neatly tied off and wrapped around various injuries—Chouji also kept note of what Shikamaru was doing.

Which wasn't a whole lot.

He bit his tongue and made himself focus on the ANBU as they helped the man—not that old, eighteen at most, with grey eyes and ash-blond hair—out of his uniform and tend to his wounds. Chouji couldn't help but think that having Sakura around right now would have been useful, basic first aid was something that all shinobi were taught, but beyond that...

No point in worrying about it. He did his best, giving the man a startled look when he offered advice on how to dress the wounds. Chouji listened though, and learned. There was no doubt in his head that this man, this Kobayashi, knew better about caring for injuries than Chouji did.

Kobayashi, though, laughed when Chouji had asked him if he'd any medical training. "Not me," he said, that getting a smile, "just been patching myself up for years."

And that, he found, was that. Once everything had been taken care of that could be handled here, and the man was resting as comfortably as they had been able to manage, Chouji went to wash his hands.

It was then that Shikamaru looked up from where he'd been leaning against the wall and stared at Asuma-sensei. "What trouble do we have, exactly?"

If he'd been Ino, then Chouji would have said something waspish about it being rather obvious. He could almost hear her voice, giving intonation and disdain to having to explain anything. They had two ANBU down, two ANBU and he didn't even know why they were here, just that their hotel room had been designated Point A and that Asuma-sensei didn't seem surprised about that.

Which meant that he'd known about the possibility of this happening.

All of that flashed through his head in the time it took Asuma-sensei to give Shikamaru an unreadable glance—which was, Chouji knew from experience, a bad sign—and opened his mouth to speak when there was an uneven thud against the door.

Chouji had barely made it to the end of the bed by the time that Asuma-sensei had reached the door. It wasn't long after that, while Chouji remained on alert—if it came to a fight, the two in the beds might be ANBU, but he was unwounded and not exhausted—and, to his pleasure, Shikamaru remained just as alert as he.

When Asuma-sensei came back, he wasn't alone. The thud had been that of a kunoichi—a tall, broad-shouldered girl who was taller, in his quick estimation, than both the men and shoulder-length green-black hair—slumping against the door. She was injured and Yuuta rolled off of the bed he'd been in without needing to be asked.

"Shimako," he said, identifying her, and at the sound of his voice her eyelids fluttered open. She didn't say anything though, as Asuma-sensei helped get her down on the bed, blood was everywhere it seemed and Chouji hurriedly went for the blood replenishers and bandages.

This time, even with the help Asuma-sensei, it took them longer to get her resting as comfortably as they could manage. While they worked, Yuuta talked urgently to her in a whisper he didn't even try to decipher, much more concerned with the way that she kept bleeding. Once the pills had taken affect, at least a little, she started answering back in a voice that was no louder than Yuuta's.

His hands were red, the blankets were red, and he barely paid attention when Asuma-sensei sent him to wash up, that he was also ordering Shikamaru to get the blankets off the bed and fetch clean ones.

Chouji didn't stay to see if Shikamaru would argue that. When he got back, both Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei were putting new sheets on the bed while the woman, Shimako, rested on the other. Kobayashi had edged over so there was room and Chouji was starting to think that there were way too many people in the room that had only been meant for the three of them. Another injured person and they were going to be out of beds.

Yuuta looked somewhat wobbly where he was leaning against the wall, out of the way of the two who were remaking the bed, so Chouji silently helped him get over to one of the chairs, and watched the bandages carefully to make sure nothing started bleeding heavily from the movement.

"I'm not badly hurt," Yuuta said, almost sounding bemused to Chouji's unpracticed ear, "I got off lucky."

He couldn't argue. Injured or not there was no denying that of the three ANBU Yuuta was the only one that was still mobile if it came to a fight. Koyabashi's arms were fine beyond a few bruises, but his legs...

Yuuta was speaking again, this time to him, and Chouji glanced at him. "You're still a Genin?"

Chouji nodded. "Lost out in the preliminaries last time around."

"You keep your head pretty well," came the calm response.

He disagreed, but silently beyond a shake of his head. In most things, yes, but it wasn't exactly hard to trigger a response to his temper where he stopped thinking. Chouji was trying to get past that, but years of reacting the same way weren't exactly easy to ignore.

"Going to take a wild guess," Yuuta said, "and say that you're the chit's team."

"Chit?" Chouji frowned, even as Shikamaru's head jerked up to stare over at them. Asuma-sensei sighed.

Yuuta shrugged even though the movement had to be painful. "The Yamanaka girl."

"What about Ino?" Shikamaru asked, getting the words out while Chouji was still contemplating how Ino would react to being called a chit. He would have liked to see the look on her face. "She's supposed to be safe."

While Yuuta blinked incredulously at that, Chouji gave Shikamaru a look of his own. "What do ANBU have to do with Ino?" he said instead.

"Over-lapping missions," Asuma-sensei said, sounding tired. "I was notified of the presence of ANBU and volunteered our room as a safe spot if there was trouble. It's just a problem of two many shinobi in one place."

Too many people hiring shinobi to do their dirty work all at once.

Well, it was more money for Konoha. "Did Ino know about your presence?"

That got a shake of his head. "Megumi did though, we weren't careless."

Chouji had several opinions on that, and not many of them were complimentary. He kept his mouth shut on any of that. "If you're like this..." Then what about Ino?

Good question. And, from the expressions on Asuma-sensei's face, on Yuuta's face, and the sick realization dawning on Shikamaru's... Chouji found he knew the answer before anyone spoke.

"She's currently thought to be caught, but alive."

Alive was better than dead, Chouji thought. He deliberately didn't think about his Dad's stories about how, sometimes, that wasn't better at all.

* * *

Her head felt like it was on fire.

The ground was cold, and it was dark. A shivery contrast to the pain in her head. Ino struggled to sit up, the movement getting a moan out of her as her head lurched, and underneath it all the mild surprise that she was unbound. She couldn't see, the dark of the room—was it a room? The ground felt like stone, but that could be a natural cave, and not the inside of a building—blinded her and left her feeling vulnerable.

"Onee-sama?" she croaked, a cracked whisper, throat dry and needing water. Stay in character, just... stay in character.

"Here, Junko-chan," came the quiet answer and then, before Ino could even turn her head in the direction of the voice, familiar hands were helping her sit up more steadily. It helped soothe the low-level panic that Ino was doing her best to ignore. Her first big mission and they'd gotten caught.

She wondered if it was anything that she'd done. She hoped it wasn't, though the point was rather ridiculous to worry about now when they were stuck here. Worry about the past later. Ino couldn't think of anything, but if it was so small...

"Where are we?" Ino asked, her voice coming out gratifyingly young and lost for all that her throat was still dry and speaking hurt. "Onee-sama? What happened?"

There was a bit of a fumble and then a half empty cup with room temperature water in it was pressed to her lips. Ino drank, taking the cup in her own hands, and Megumi-san answered while she did.

"I don't know much," Megumi-san said, smoothing one hand over her hair, and Ino leaned into the touch, making herself relax slightly, "you were brought to our rooms unconscious and I... made tea then..."

And then Megumi-san had allowed herself to be taken.

She shifted, moving herself closer to Megumi-san and did the utterly most childish thing she could think of doing—burying her face against her 'sister' and bursting into tears. "I'm scared, Onee-sama. S-Scared..."

It was a useful skill to be able to cry on command, and to make it look real. The fear in her voice though was entirely real. Suzume-sensei had always said that that was the best way to go about it. _Mix the real with the fake and make it hard to tell them apart. Nothing sweetens a lie more than a truth._

In being scared, in letting it show, she was making the tears more realistic. It wasn't something she was consciously thinking about in so many words, thinking right now would be bad because nothing showed up quicker than the fact that you had to think about things, but underneath it all there were reasons.

Megumi-san's hand on her hair, arm around her shoulder, came quickly and soothing nonsense was murmured as Ino let herself react, and react badly to the situation.

It was scary, it was dangerous, and she was scared to death that they wouldn't get out of here. But training was a powerful thing, and being so emotional on a mission was a thing that they'd learned quickly was bad.

This was different than D ranked missions. So different. It was worse than an exam because if she failed an exam oh well, she'd try again. This, though, was life or death. Thinking was bad, so Ino didn't think.

She just cried, and let Megumi-san soothe her. And, in doing so, the both of them could look to come to grips with the situation somewhat. It was hard to tell in the dark, but Megumi-san's hand on her hair and the way that a small message, passed through that way, only one word but even still, assurance enough--_Good_.

Good. Simple praise, but enough to make her thoughts steady and stop rolling around quite so much with panic. Ino just made herself stay where she was.

Slowly time passed. It was bizarre to be stuck in the dark, and not be able to do anything about it. After awhile Megumi-san shifted, leaving Ino on the floor and draping a thin blanket over her shoulders.

Ino wrapped her arms around her knees, her face feeling puffy with tears and she rubbed at her eyes as Megumi-san moved around in the dark. "Onee-sama? W-What are you doing?" Her throat hurt, and that was real. She needed water and they didn't have much to spare. She'd have to do without for a little while longer.

"Trying to see where we are," came the smooth response, and for a moment Ino was confused because she didn't think...

Oh. Right. _Stupid_. Civilians would do that too, right? They definitely would.

"Did you want my help?" she asked, pitching her voice to sounds lost and childlike.

"Stay there," Megumi-san answered. "Keep talking so I don't trip over you, Junko-chan."

Talking. Talking she could do. What followed was a rather painful hour or so (her sense of time was rather dubious considering all of the dark) while Ino tried desperately to keep talking even as her throat protested being used and she had to struggle to come up with topics that would sound natural for a scared civilian girl.

Megumi-san didn't tell her to stop, and Ino tried to take that as encouragement, but couldn't quite convince herself that it was all well done. How could she, when it was dark, she couldn't see anything, and Megumi-san could only be told there from the sounds she made while looking. Her breathing. Ino made herself focus on that and not on the way the dark made her skin want to crawl the longer she was in it.

"Nothing," Megumi-san sighed, stepping over to her and settling down nearby. "We're stuck good and well, Junko-chan."

She shivered, and that was pure Ino instead of Junko even though she didn't know if that was just what Megumi-san was saying for... in case of anyone watching them. Ino didn't even know if someone was.

Just that, had it been her on the other side of the situation she'd have had people watching them to.

How long it was then before the door flipped open, Ino didn't know, just that she'd fallen half asleep and the light that spilled across the room was almost painfully bright. She made a sound of protest, blinking her eyes furiously, even as Megumi-san made it so that Ino was behind her. More protected.

So that they'd get the Jounin, rather than the Genin. Ino was grateful for this, and tried not to be shamed at the fact that she was so weak. _Don't be stupid_, she scolded herself, _the moment we got caught you were way over your head. Amaya-san knows better._

And, here and now, it was easier to swallow that she couldn't do it all.

When the light cleared, she managed to see enough to notice that the walls across the hall were brick, with wood paneling on the first foot from the floor. Then two shinobi grabbed Megumi-san, and Ino protested shrilly, as Junko-chan, even as her 'sister' put up a 'fight'.

Then the door was closing, and she was alone in the dark.

* * *

The pace they took ate up land like it was nothing. The energy it took, chakra fed to their legs with precise, painstaking skill wasn't nothing, but it was a slight enough amount that they could recuperate it quickly during breaks.

Not that there were many of those, Yuugao thought, as she all but flew over the ground, arms down and back, hair neatly braided, then coiled around her head and ANBU mask firmly on. It wasn't raining, though the sky was dark enough and the air heavy enough that she could tell it would start up again soon.

Her team ranged behind her, all ANBU, all experienced, though one was still counted as hardly more than a rookie, and she directed her thoughts, again, to their orders. Yakushi Kabuto had been spotted in and around the area in the presence of more than one Jounin from Iwa.

That would have been bad enough—the idea of Yakushi dealing with any of the Fire Country's daimyo was an idea that gave far too many ways that it could turn out really badly for them. Too much sensitive information all around, and so close to the surface. Even worse when they had, still, no real idea of just how much privileged information Yakushi had obtained. At the very _very_ least, far too much of their medical knowledge had wound up in his hands.

And then they'd gone and dropped a Genin into that mess. _Brilliant._ Yuugao took savage pleasure in the fact that Ibiki and Hiromasa were severely unhappy with the agents they'd had gathering information in Aomori-shi. It helped, a bit, that the Genin, the Yamanaka girl, had an ANBU directly with her, and that there had been, apparently, a team set in place to keep further eye on her.

But Yuugao knew that things could change in a heartbeat, and not even the most skilled ANBU could stick close to someone twenty-four seven. At the very least, sleep was still required. And the girl had enough training to be quiet when it suited her. That much had been gleaned from the mission briefing.

Hiromasa himself had done it, and he'd been quite... informative. Good grades, clever mind, skilled more than many kunoichi twice and three times her age in the arts of _being_ a kunoichi—with the exception of the seduction arts, but that was hardly a surprise when they'd removed courtesan training from the Academy nearly eight years ago now. _It wasn't needed_, they'd said back then. Yuugao, who'd gone through it, was still of two minds about it.

It was a skill, and it was never too early to learn a skill. It wasn't as if the course had been much more than theory and discussion anyway. The practical uses of it were taught later, under the discretion of the Jounin sensei, and the maturity of each girl was taken into specific account.

That way had worked, and the girls who excelled there got a better idea of what to expect earlier. Not to mention the simple fact that all girls, and some of the boys for that matter, always had the chance of needing to know at the very least, the basics.

She shook her head—where were her thoughts tonight?—and, after a quick check back to ensure that her team was still good to go, upped the pace. They still had a good bit of distance to travel and Yuugao knew good and well that they had little time to waste.

They'd rest in a bit, she silently passed the message on with a few simple hand gestures. But for now, they'd run.

Yuugao wondered at the reasoning behind testing the Yamanaka girl so young. Alright, admittedly, it was not so young had they been in the midst of a war, but they weren't with the exception of the Oto attack and few months back, and this...

Spoken quietly, in hardly more than whispers even in the ANBU headquarters were murmurings of the signs of another war. Everyone one there had heard the same rumours, but very few knew if there was any weight to them. Yuugao, for her part, had been of the opinion that talking about war was all well and good but until they had proof there was no point in _her_ fretting about it.

Squad leader, yes. But she wasn't all that high in the command chain, and so her job wasn't to... engage in speculation. Gossip was to be listened to, of course, sometimes it was valuable, but for the most part Yuugao abstained from adding to it. Hayate had been more of a talker than she...

Oh, bravo, she thought darkly, shoving the pain away and down. She couldn't mourn out here, not while on a mission. Time enough for that back in her too quiet rooms in Headquarters. Adjusting to death, and death of a loved one, was never easy. But worse still was it for a shinobi to lose themselves to grief and continue to take missions with that hurt powering their motivations.

Mission: suicide. That's what it was named by dark-humoured agents in Intel. One in five ANBU went that route, they'd noted at last count. It had actually been only one in twenty during the war. She knew why too—in the middle of a war there was no time to get close, and if you did, even then, there were barriers that were left up to keep the relationship safe. Keep it on a level that they could move past, and get over, without so much fuss and feeling.

Peace had hurt them there, too. More and more shinobi were caring too deeply, and that caring, while strengthening their teamwork and the morale of the village... left them easier to manipulate.

The ground disappeared quickly beneath their feet, the passage of space only noted in the fact that it alternated through dark patches of forest, and wide open clearings. They would make better time if they followed the main roads, but that wasn't something that they could afford—even if and ANBU team running at their pace was nothing but a blur almost too quick to be seen to the average civilian.

But, and that got a bit of a grin underneath her mask, it wasn't the average civilian that they were avoiding. If they _were_ running into trouble, and all reports said that was likely, then no doubt there would be enemy agents in the towns they would have to go through who would make note of their passing.

Better by far then to add a few hours more of travel time and not be seen. That had been her opinion for years, and she'd gotten it from her sensei. So far it had proven right. Yuugao had no plans in being proven wrong on it ever. Caution saved lives, so long as you didn't let caution freeze you and keep you from reacting.

It was that caution that let her know people were in the clearing ahead of them. It was that skill that had her signaling quickly for weapons to not be drawn. It was her memory that let her put names to the faces that she came upon. It was fast reflexes that allowed her to avoid the wave of sand that came smashing at them even while she called out her allegiances and hoped it was the right thing. Distantly she heard the girl with the fan echoing the order.

It was good old fashion prudence that wondered what Suna was doing so far within their borders.

This team in particular. She landed light, moonlight sending details into harsh relief as clouds broke away from the moon.

"Name and business," she ordered, drawing her head up and glad for the mask that kept the glare she directed at the Jounin of the Suna team from being noticed.

No need to start an international incident, she reminded herself sternly even as the Genin with the hood stepped forward. Even if she wanted to.

Hayate...

* * *

Inoichi's favourite place (besides his bed) was the greenhouses. He'd lie glibly and say it wasn't though to most people, because in his opinion most people had no business knowing that, but it was and when he'd slipped out that evening, with a kiss for Mui, a quick greeting for Sakura, and half a sandwich still in hand, he'd headed straight for the greenhouses and their leafy insides.

The sandwich, of course, was gone before he reached them, and Inoichi slipped inside, shutting the door behind him, and smiling as the scent of flowers, leaves, and herbs washed over him. Other people, he knew, found it all too overpowering, but it was just about right to him.

Peaceful, and calming.

It was a rare chance when he had the availability to spend a lot of time in the greenhouses, and he was determined to make the most of it, never minding that the sun had set a few hours ago. What was day and night when he'd just gotten back from a mission?

There was nothing particularly pressing to do in the greenhouse, but the beauty of having so many flowers meant that there was always at least one or two to check in on and make sure that they were flourishing and then, of course, once he'd done that he had to check up on all of the rest just so he could make sure that they were doing as well.

That was his excuse, and he was sticking to it. He hummed a bit, parts of a song that was playing constantly on the radio, some silly teenage thing and found he didn't mind it when just the plants knew about it.

He had his pride after all and it was enough of a pain dealing with Shikaku and Chouza's occasional ribbing about him owning a flowershop. Chouza cooked, Shikaku spent his spare days up to his eyes in deer and came out reeking of them. In Inoichi's opinion, they were no better than him, _and_ flowers smelled better than deer.

Night was, he supposed, an odd sort of time to want to do gardening in, but that was the time he'd had and Inoichi knew that he'd never be able to sleep without at least a few hours of time spent here. Not when he was wound tightly enough that his shoulders and neck ached dully with a pain that no painkiller would touch. Only time could do that, time and really relaxing.

This would allow him to ground himself, take himself out of the other mindset that he used on missions. Nothing was ever easy and even Jounin got tired of them. This one had gone well, and he was still tired. Needed a break. Maybe he'd talk to Mui about taking a vacation to the shore for a week, or something. They could afford it.

Inoichi let himself dwell on that pleasant idea as he puttered. No doubt Ino would like to come, but he doubted her schedule would allow for it. Not at her age. And not after her first big mission. He bit his lip in concentration as he carefully pulled a few dead leaves from a finicky plant. Perhaps he'd teach her another jutsu for that, making it to her first mission like that was impressive improvement from the exam.

Thoughts like that were far better than what lurked on his mind, just beneath them. Missions weren't, like his wife thought, something that came entirely easy to him. It was just something that he had to do. Inoichi couldn't imagine _not_ doing missions, and so he kept doing them. Because that was all he could do. Flowers were nice, and he was perhaps fonder of them than he let on, but only as a change.

Inoichi was old school in more than one way, he subscribed freely to the idea that all shinobi should have something that was utterly non-related to their job. As a way to unwind, and relax. It was never a good idea for a shinobi to put themselves in a civilian situation while they were still strung taut with nerves.

And Inoichi had always had nerves, more than enough that Kai-sensei had more than once despaired of him ever settling down enough to work properly in the strict confines of a mission's parameters. He'd managed though.

Kill your heart, but let it beat all at once. He'd taken it to mind, and made it his. On a mission, he was distant, and some would say not-all-there. That was fine, he got the mission done, he managed to be more than effective.

And the flowers were his way of reconnecting.

Losing himself in tending to the plants, he was almost startled by the quick rap of a knock on the door to the greenhouse. There was more than one way out of the place, of course, but to someone who didn't know the building inside and out there was only one real exit.

He paused, tilting his head at the door. It was past late, he'd just gotten back from a mission, and there was no way they'd be pulling him out right away again. That wasn't something that was done often—even in ANBU they'd allowed the agents at least a day between missions, generally more than that though as the agents had had a tendency to come back injured.

It wasn't a chakra signature that he recognized and so he had a kunai in hand as Inoichi ambled over to the door, outwardly at ease. The sight of a masked and cloaked figure filled him with nothing but exhaustion and an inward curse at the trend of his thoughts.

"You've got to be kidding," was his greeting, and he opened the door and stared impassively at the ANBU. "I did my duty."

"ANBU requires you again," was the uncompromising response to that. "Your duty ends, and begins, when you're needed."

A girl, he couldn't tell how hold she was, but even money said she was a good bit younger than he was. ANBU was the province of the young, the powerful, and the stupid. He'd been there once, and his hand slipped up to brush where the tattoos still marred his skin.

The scarlet spiral. A twisted descent into madness.

"My mask," he said, holding out one hand for it, knowing that she'd have it on her. "I'll need to be reissued a kit, for the rest of it. It's been sixteen years."

That made the chit pause, and he lowered his estimate of her age to even younger than he'd thought. She had to be close to that, he guessed, just to react so powerfully to the fact that, yes, he'd been there and left it so many years ago. Necessity was a cold mistress. She handed over the heavy white mask, and he stared at it.

"Why are people getting called in now?" he asked. "If it was going to happen, I would have thought that right after the Oto attack." Inoichi couldn't call it an invasion. It hadn't been. Just one attack, and then it was over.

The ANBU shrugged, clearly she didn't know, and anything she might have heard… wasn't going to pass it on to him. He let out a sigh. Figured. "I'll be there," he said. "In the morning. Assuming that's early enough?"

She nodded and in the blink of an eye disappeared.

"Show off," he muttered, staring down at the mask in his hands before quickly tucking it away. No one else could see it, belonging to ANBU was a secret.

"What am I supposed to tell Mui?" he murmured. Inoichi would figure it out, but not now. There was someone else he needed to talk to first.

And the greenhouses would just have to wait. "I'll be back," he promised them, as he tidied things up quickly. "But not now."

He had more important things to do.

* * *

Megumi knew, from the moment she'd woken up, that they were being observed. When the first thing out of Ino-kun's mouth had been a pained 'Onee-sama' she'd been almost pathetically grateful for that.

Still in character, even when injured. Suzume hadn't been exaggerating the talents of this kunoichi, however green she was in terms of experience. She'd not minded at all, when Ino-kun had admitted to being scared—and Megumi had been able to tell that that was both the mask and the real girl talking there, though the tears were the mask only—because it was something that could only help to further suspicion on them being simply who they'd claimed to be: civilian sisters who'd needed employment.

Every bit helped. And Ino-kun had surpassed her expectations easily. Megumi would not have blamed even kunoichi only than Ino-kun for breaking character in a situation that had gone so badly awry. Fighting against your instincts... it wasn't easy, especially not when, in not fighting, you could get hurt. No one _liked_ getting hurt, beyond a few of the agents in ANBU. Which, admittedly, had it's uses, but not in this mission.

So far, so good though. Neither of them had been injured more than the absolute minimum that had been used to take them down, and if they were thirsty and tired, well, there were far worse fates than that. Their luck was holding well, though she doubted that Ino-kun would precisely say the same thing.

She couldn't exactly blame her for that. Ino-kun was just a Genin. It was a different level of thinking altogether. Megumi could only hope that Ino-kun would be left alone as the door was opened and light streamed in. She was glad, almost, when they grabbed her, forcing her to her feet even as Ino-kun erupted, right on cue, into shrilly protest about taking her 'Onee-sama' away and what were they going to do with her.

And, in her own role, she'd offered brave assurances and gone without a quiver of fear in her voice. The door slamming shut on Ino-kun made her shiver, and Megumi-san scolded herself for being so silly as to take that as almost an omen. They would get out of here, and they would do it well. She wouldn't allow anything else.

It was almost _too_ bright after the dark of the room, and Megumi's eyes watered as she faked a stumble that only made her captors grip on her arms tighten. The halls were stone, with wood paneling along wall for the first foot from the ground before giving way to whitewashed stone. She wondered at that, and wracked her brain in an attempt to recall where they could be. Aomori-shi wasn't huge on stone buildings. Wood was more common in the Fire Country.

"Where are we going?" she demanded, a quiver of fear permitted to slip out under her mask of bravado now that she was away from her sister and the need to act stronger than she really was. "Where are we? What are you planning to do with us?"

She wasn't surprised when the only answer she got was hands tightening further, to the point of pain, and she knew that she'd have bruises developing fast if they insisted on that being their only method of telling her to shut up.

Megumi didn't of course. Giving a cry of pain, and one that while genuine, had she been able to act as herself would have merely earned a wince and likely a kick to the perpetrator. She bemoaned her fate, that of her sister's, and the entire situation. As loud as she could.

It was difficult when she didn't know, or have much of an idea about where they were, but loud was always preferred over silent if you were pretending to be a civilian. The fact that they didn't strike her in the face only gave more credence to the fact that, so far, there was hopefully the doubt that they even were kunoichi.

Better to be thought a weak and terrified woman than one competent of taking on pain in this situation, at least. The opposite was true in some cases, naturally, but seldom in the case of a hostage situation.

The room she was shoved roughly into was blindingly bright after the ordinary light of the halls, and her eyes streamed as she stumbled and tried to look around. Empty but for a drain in the middle of the gently sloped floor, cuffs and chains on the wall, and a stand that had blades of different widths and other things she didn't manage to identify in the brief look she got. Megumi was glad for the light as it gave her a distraction while she tried not to let herself tense up in ways that a civilian shouldn't know.

No civilian would have chakra steadily rising with powerful intent behind it. Flared uncontrolled chakra was allowable, even civilians had chakra—all living things did—but anything beyond that... would speak of training. And, faced with two masked ninja wearing Iwagakure headbands and a quick glimpse of a flash of silver hair and Oto's hitae-ite answered good and well where Yakushi was.

Leaning against the far wall, he was looking better than any traitor had the right to be, and she was glad for one of the others grabbing her roughly and pressing her wrists into chains embedded in the wall. She shrieked, channeling emotion into it so her mind stayed clear.

Dimly she was aware of a muted conversation with Yakushi, but she couldn't make out the words. Megumi didn't try. Such an action would only draw more attention to her.

As the other Iwa shinobi picked up a fine bladed knife Megumi was never so glad that it had been her instead of Ino-kun.

She, at least, had the training to withstand what was coming. All the training didn't stop it from hurting though, and as the first cut became a fiery line of blood down her arm, Megumi let herself scream.

"Gently," Yakushi admonished, faint amusement in his voice. "At least to start."

* * *

Asuma had been keeping an eye on Chouji, and Shikamaru, while they'd laid out the situation, leaving out a few key bits of information—such as why, exactly, there'd be ANBU around—and hadn't liked what he'd seen at all.

It was rare that Chouji, his most easy-going student, got angry. If it wasn't about his weight, which he was more sensitive than Asuma thought he should be, then Chouji was regularly a rock of stability for both Ino and Shikamaru to balance off of. Their temperaments flourished with the stability that Chouji possessed.

After ordering Shikamaru out to obtain food, he was hungry, and the ANBU had to be, and even this late at night there were still a few places open, he gestured for Chouji to come over. In this situation he had no patience for any sort of teenage squabble. Not his third student's life was in danger.

Chouji gave the three ANBU a long glance—two of them were sleeping, one knocked out by all the painkillers in their systems, the other just in a fitful doze that was shy of real sleep, while Yuuta still worked on compiling what they knew so far—before coming over.

"What's going on between you and Shikamaru?" he asked bluntly. This was no time for him to be skipping around and trying to spare the feelings of his kids.

That earned him a look, and Asuma raised his eyebrows slightly. If this was less serious, if he could have a cigarette, it would be almost amusing. As it was though, there was nothing amusing about a flare up between two teammates when the third was in a situation that she shouldn't have been in.

"He's not thinking," Chouji said, sighing and leaning back against the wall. "Even getting Kobayashi out—we were out of bounds."

_Out of bounds_. Asuma's eyes narrowed. "And you were out of bounds why?"

"Shikamaru's shadow said something was wrong." Chouji sounded mulish about that and Asuma couldn't help but want to groan at that news. There was no telling how much of that was true, and how much of that was just wishful thinking under the circumstances.  
He wasn't a Nara. It wasn't like he'd know. Asuma had to admit, in his own head at least, that it sounded reasonable enough to him. But Shikamaru hadn't been reasonable for most of the mission.

"So you disobeyed my orders because his shadow thought something was off."

To his credit, Chouji flushed.

"You both could have been killed," Asuma held up one hand to forestall any argument there and continued on, "I'm well aware that you didn't, and indeed that what you found may have helped us—and that it certainly saved a life. Nonetheless, you will be mentioned as being in violation of your orders though on my report."

That got a nod, a slightly stiff one, but no argument. Asuma could live with that. He suspected that the other member of the team would be harder to deal with than this one.

"What," he asked, voice carefully measured, "is your opinion of what's up with him?"

He watched silently as Chouji carefully turned that over in his head, obviously deciding how much information there was that he felt he could give up. There were times, especially times like this, when Asuma wished that the Academy still covered some of the classes that they'd done away with once it had become clear that the war wasn't going to restart for a goodly while.

How were they supposed to know better without training? The only answer to that, of course, was that it couldn't be expected that they'd just pick it up. Situational discussion. What was and wasn't important in the moment. And when, exactly, differences had to be put aside and ignored.

Better a screaming match of a spar in the middle of training, than a whispered fight concerning the exact same issue in a situation where a nudge at the wrong time could wind up with a battle and then people would be injured.

Or worse.

Asuma wasn't sure how much his impatience for the entire issue was reflected on his face, but what there was wouldn't be recognizable unless, like Chouji, you were one of those that he was currently exasperated with. He wished, absently, that this was a time that he could have a cigarette.

But no, not with Ino in a mess that she shouldn't have been in. He should've made her said no. She didn't have the experience. It wasn't that he doubted her technical ability to perform a mission.

Technicalities, though, made up only a small part of what made a ninja able to complete their missions. And Ino didn't have the experience. He'd hoped that she wouldn't have to gain experience this way. Wishes and hopes were useless though, especially now, and he shoved them away and down out of his mind as Chouji opened his mouth.

"He's been..." his calmest student shrugged a bit helplessly, "weird about Ino since that mission. Not sleeping well, and—"

That pause got raised eyebrows. "Go on."

"He has dreams about her," Chouji said, in a quiet rush with a wary glance at the other shinobi in the room, "about her dying, about him failing to save her, and apparently that's just... something he's going to have to deal with. His dad gave him a bunch of books, but books aren't a cure, and he's been being stupid about it. I had to pry that much out of him, and I know there's more. He's been skittish about talking anything out though, and everything he's said about this mission has been predicting disaster. I don't know if any of that was more than him just worrying about Ino though, and I don't think he knows either. He's... not really... thinking a lot? Just reacting, and that's not like him at all. And his shadow is acting up, apparently it's something his dad was teaching him before the mission started, but for the moment it's more reactive to his thoughts and opinions..."

As Chouji trailed off, Asuma pinched the bridge of his nose and digested what he'd just heard. As Kurenai had said, Ino was the most motivated by that mission and Shikamaru... would take the longest to heal.

He didn't have all that much time to coddle him, not now. Not when his students were keeping things like that from him. Asuma had known about the shadow being more reactive, and had known that Shikamaru hadn't been pleased by the mission at all, but...

"Dreams of her dying because of him." It wasn't a question. More of a statement, and even that had heavy overtones of 'I can't believe this'. "And neither of you thought that it might be something that your Jounin sensei would want to know about before a major mission like this."

Major to them, his students, of course. To more advanced shinobi it was just another mission, like a hundred others.

Chouji flushed and his answer came out mulish. "I promised Shikamaru that I wouldn't."

That got a sigh. "Kids," Asuma muttered, not feeling anything complimentary for any of them at the moment. "And do Shikamaru's feelings rank above Ino's life?"

His student paled.

"If I had known about Shikamaru's difficulties, in more detail, so that I better understood what was actually going on with him, rather than the few tidbits I gleaned from dragging details out of him..." He shook his head. "We could have turned the mission down." He doubted that Tsunade-sama would have minded. She hadn't been pleased with the idea in the first place. If he'd only had a good excuse...

Chouji looked like he was going to be ill. Asuma clapped him on the shoulder. "Think about it," he advised, knowing that anything else would just soften the point that had needed to be made, "and remember the difference between information that's on a need-to-know basis and what's not."

"I'm going out for a bit." Let them think it was for a cigarette. "Keep a watch out."

Chouji's answer was so quiet he almost missed it. "Yes, Asuma-sensei."

* * *

Ino's head hurt less, the water Megumi-san had given her helped with that, but she was still cold and the blanket they had was thin. She huddled herself under it, back to the far corner, pressed up against the wall, and stared at the door.

She didn't know where they were taking Megumi-san. And all she could do, all she _dared_ do was breathe in the dank air of the room and try to marshal her thoughts into some useful form. It was harder than it should have been, and she wondered if that was to blame on the pain meds—some of them were known for ruining concentration.

Leaning back more firmly against the wall, it was still dark but she was almost getting used to that, Ino paused when the wall shifted slightly behind her, before continuing to move. She had to look like she hadn't noticed anything.

It was easier, really, than it would have been under different circumstances, since she didn't even know if what she'd noticed was anything useful. Ino knew, in all honesty, that she didn't even know if it was useful. But it was something of interest.

And even as green as she was for a shinobi, Ino knew that captors never wanted anything of interest to catch the enemy agents—and how weird was it, that she was an enemy and a captive?—and with good reason.

Things of interest, however small, could make all the difference.

Ino shifted so that her shoulders and neck were leaned against the wall while scooting out so that her lower back wasn't so closely pressed. It looked a bit silly, a little bit obvious, but between the blanket she had wrapped around her, and the dark, Ino thought that even this was a reasonable chance. She needed to know what was there, and if Megumi-san had missed it...

Carefully, so carefully and as casually as she could manage, Ino silently reached out with her arms and felt out the area of wall behind her. At first it was just the paneled wood, and above it, the stone that her shoulders were pressed against, but then her fingers brushed an edge of a panel that was slightly raised and the wall shifted again.

She froze, barely breathing, and hoping like hell that whatever watchers she had on her—if there were any, Ino knew good and well that Megumi-san was of greater interest than she was—hadn't noticed what she was doing.

If she was cautious, then she'd stop there, with maybe no more than a few more attempts to check out the area of wall that moved when she touched it. If she had more training, Ino might have been able to stealthily check out if there were chakra signatures around her. As it was though, she was a Genin, greener than spring grass after a rainstorm, and what she had to work with was just her instincts.

And her instincts quietly suggested that she ought to press her luck while Megumi-san wasn't around. If the watchers had gone with her 'sister' then this could be her one real chance to make sense of what was going on here—and find enough information for them to figure out how to escape. They couldn't just rely on other people to come and save them.

Her heartbeat sped at the thought. Shikamaru and Chouji were out there. If she knew them, and Ino thought she did, then Shikamaru would be swearing that he'd known she couldn't handle a mission like this.

Ino's eyes narrowed, and her lips thinned. Right. She wasn't just going to sit around and wait for rescue. No way, not with that facing her. If she could help Megumi-san get them out... that'd prove that she wasn't entirely useless. It had to. She was _not_ incapable of taking care of herself.

She closed her eyes, making herself breathe deeply, careful steady gulps of air as she wrestled her temper back under her control. Ino couldn't lose it here. If she did, and it'd be so easy to, then she wouldn't get anything accomplished. And that, as a point of personal pride, she couldn't let happen. It wasn't all about Shikamaru, Ino told herself silently. This mission had been given to her because they thought she could handle it, the _Hokage_ had thought she could handle it.

Ino had to prove that she could, even when it went wrong.

When her head was clear, and her temper back to fueling her energy rather than clouding her mind, Ino carefully, but very deliberately, pressed the panel. The wall shifted, more than before, and this time there was a squeal of old unused metal that sounded painfully loud to her ears. Her breath caught in her throat, making her cough, and she waited almost frozen with fear for someone, anyone to come running and see what was up.

No one did.

With a tight grin, that was more than a little vicious, directed at the door, Ino carefully explored the depression in the wall. It was only an inch or two deep, but wide enough that...

Ino, acting more on a hunch than anything else, dug her fingernails under the edge of the depression. The wood made her wince as it bit into her fingers but, with nothing more than a wince and a hissed curse, she made herself tug at it.

To her delight it moved under her hands. The amount of noise it made was _not_ to her delight though. A few more not-quite-panicked moments as she waited for someone, anyone to hear her and make her stop. Again, there was nothing.

It took her another twenty minutes or so—she was guessing, time seemed equal parts fluid and at a standstill in the complete dark she found herself in—to get the depression, and the panel to move enough that she could wiggle through it.

Ino, still blind without light but more confident in her hands ability to tell things apart than she'd been before this, carefully felt around in the hole. It almost felt like a tunnel, and she wished futilely to be able to see more clearly—could Hinata see in the dark with her eyes activated?—and Ino contemplated for a moment on activating Hypnosis no Jutsu. Pink light was almost better than none, right?

Except for the fact that that would break their cover. Even a civilian girl could accidentally find a way out of their prison if a room had been left so open for exploration. So far, everything she'd found could be blamed on the need to get out, and pure chance.

The moment she brought chakra into play... that'd be busted. Ino swallowed, glancing back at the door, and quickly wriggling out of the blanket. And, before she thought better of it, wriggled through the opening. There was a bit of a drop, less than a foot, but it still caught her off guard and she had to bite her lip to keep from making a sound.

Ino peeked back behind her, reaching to carefully shift the blanket so it looked somewhat (hopefully) like she was just sleeping. Then she turned, facing the dark with no idea of how long the tunnel would go on for, or where she'd end up.

_Get moving_, she told herself. _You'll need to be back before Megumi-san is returned._

And that was a time limit she had no frame of reference for. Ino steeled her nerves, ordered herself to remember the way back to this point, and started inching down the tunnel, feeling the way with her hands and hoping for no more sudden drops.

The dark of the tunnel closed in behind her, and Ino made herself concentrate on anything but the press of the walls and tried to occupy her thoughts with practical contemplation about where she was, and what exactly they'd been caught for.

She disappeared into the tunnel, leaving the room behind. _I'll be back,_ she promised herself. _I'll make it back before they return, for sure._

Because otherwise was too awful to think about.

* * *


	14. Chapter 10: Misjudged II

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 10 Misjudged (Part II)  
Author: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 10 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Shikamaru was standing, or rather sitting, and keeping watch while the other shinobi in the room slept. Asuma slipped in after what he'd claimed was a cigarette break, but in reality had been to scout the area for the little mouse that Yuuta had said Kotone would send out if she was able.

As a mouse though, these things took time. Especially since, as far as he knew, none of Kotone's mice had his scent. It made locating harder, even while he chafed with impatience at not knowing everything there was to know.

There was something else he could do now, and after talking to Chouji, he was disinclined to let it go on for long. What he'd learned from Chouji hadn't pleased him, and he was in no mood for something like that to fester.

"You," Asuma said his voice stern but quiet, coming to lean against the wall by the chair Shikamaru was sitting in, "are out of control."

Shikamaru glanced sideways at him, and let out of a non-committal hum before looking away. Asuma took in the slump of Shikamaru's body, and the way that his eyes weren't paying hardly any attention to the area around him.

And the way that his shadow was pooled around his feet in a way that most shadows didn't.

That didn't stop Asuma from giving him a sharp rap over the head. No matter how much growth his kids had done in the last year, they were still green, still had so much to learn.

The rap earned him a grunt of pain and Shikamaru glared up at him, even as one hand went to rub at his head. Beneath his feet, his shadow seemed suddenly thicker. "What was that for?"

Asuma glared back at him, the expression so seldom seen on his face that Shikamaru's hand froze for a moment. Part of him, he had to admit, was relieved that this student of this still had that much common sense. "Do you really need to ask me that?" his voice was low, so low that Chouji who was still talking quietly to one of the ANBU while helping to make the others more comfortable wouldn't be able to hear at all. If the ANBU heard, well, he was less concerned with that.

He had to take care of his team first. And that was hard enough with one link of their team missing in action, which meant that the other two had to get their act together. Right here, and now. If that meant Shikamaru's pride took a few blows by being dressed down in front of a few agents who weren't even paying attention… well, Asuma was willing to pay that cost. There were much higher ones that he could wind up having to pay if he kept up like this.

Even as he thought that, Shikamaru's face went mulish, stubbornly set, and Asuma had to fight not to sigh. Of course he wouldn't be easy to get through to. "I just did, didn't I?"

"You," Asuma continued, wishing futilely for a cigarette and turning the craving for nicotine into concentration on the matter at hand, "are an idiot."

Shikamaru stared at him—whatever he'd be expecting, it clearly hadn't been that.

Good. Maybe that meant he'd listen better. Asuma was willing to hope for that much at least. "I talked to Chouji," Shikamaru eyes glanced over at his teammate with thinly veiled irritation, before Asuma brought his attention back to him, "no don't look over at him like that, it's not his fault he was doing just what he was supposed to and reporting to me what he found worrisome."

It was that last bit that really brought Shikamaru's attention back around to him.

"Worrisome?" Shikamaru's voice was slightly biting; the word didn't suit him at all. The fact that the tone did though was something that deepened Asuma's frown.

"You," Asuma continued on as if he hadn't been interrupted, "are treading a very thin line here, did you know? That line is called 'restricted from active duty' and if you don't smarten up I _will_ send you back home under disgrace and bound by that order until you've got your head back on straight. I realize that, this time, you disobeying orders was something that saved a life—but it doesn't change the fact that you'll be written up not once, but twice for insubordination against me."

"I didn't—," Shikamaru looked out-raged, and he was glad to see that. It meant, at least, that he was listening.

"You did," Asuma evenly countered. "Not just once, but twice. You went against my orders and left the area you were supposed to patrol, and—this is what gave you your second demerit—you forced a Genin to go along with that."

Shikamaru's eyes flashed. "Chouji—"

"Didn't have to go along with you?" Asuma asked, deceptively soft.

Warily, perhaps sensing the trap, Shikamaru nodded. "He could have just turned and left."

Just like he'd thought. _Teenagers_. What had a decade of peace done to them? "Ah, but he couldn't have. Do you want to know why?"

Slowly, Shikamaru nodded.

"Because you are a Chuunin, and he's a Genin." Asuma might not have said the words 'you stupid boy' but they were conveyed well enough through his tone anyway. "You out-rank him, so when you're out in the field, _you_ are the one responsible for his actions. You're still acting like, on the field, you're all equal—and you're not. There is more to being a Chuunin than giving orders in an immediate crisis. Apparently you need to re-listen to all those lectures your family gave you about being Chuunin again, because you didn't learn them very well at all."

"That's not fair," Shikamaru said, looking irritated as he lowered his hand from his head and clenched it into a fist. "I didn't ask to be made Chuunin and responsible for them."

"Then what," Asuma shot back, "are you doing on active duty? Like it or not, you are a Chuunin and therefore, if I'm not around, you _are_ responsible for them."

Shikamaru just looked at him helplessly. "What do you want me to say?"

"I'm furious with you," he said, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Ino is missing in action, Chouji is livid at your lack of thinking and I'm stuck playing babysitter because I can't trust you to handle things the way your rank says you ought to be able to."

"I'm not a little kid," Shikamaru protested.

"Then stop acting it." Asuma turned away from him. "You've got one more chance—shape up, or go home. We don't have time to deal with your issues right now, we've got to be focused on doing everything we can for Ino and Megumi. I mean it, get your act together starting _now_."

He felt Shikamaru staring at his back as he paused for a moment to tell Yuuta he was going out to see if he could find anything—after all, Asuma was the only Jounin they had at the moment who was completely healthy—before leaving without glancing back.

He'd meant what he said. All of it. As he raced through the town, a quick jutsu around him keeping his movements out of casual sight, Asuma was still scowling.

Stupid kids.

* * *

Yuugao fumed.

It didn't show on her face, not while it was hidden behind her mask, and it didn't show in the set of her shoulders, the way she stood, or in her voice. All of that was from training. Her eyes were slightly narrowed, but that was because of the low light and the dark surrounding them, pressing in on the sides. Her team stood on alert as the team from Suna left, the girl with the fan giving them one last long look before chasing after her brothers and their sensei.

The team from Suna had a mission, of course. Their papers had seemed entirely in order. They'd been perfectly open about their purposes. Yuugao still hated it, and wanted to distrust them. She grit her teeth though, it was likely that they were telling the truth.

But it burned, like an ache all along the inside of her head. Not even a full year yet since they'd been enemies and they were to treat them as allies now. Professional was about the best conduct she could manage. Once this mission was over she would have to report the meeting to the Hokage.

"Fall out," her voice came out crisp and clear in the night, "we've got to make up for lost time now—double pace until we're back on track."

Utter silence greeted that, but she knew they would follow. None of the agents with her were new, and they had a deadline to race against. They headed out of the clearing, slowly at first, to give their bodies time to adjust to moving again, and then picking up speed so that they were going faster and faster.

She upped the pace, keeping it just under the point where a slow burn would start in her legs, and knowing that the others in the squad would signal her if they needed to slow down. Their cloaks spilled out behind them as the moved, like black clouds with white faces rising from the gloom. If anyone saw them, there would be nothing but the impression of fear—in this light, at this time, if they were spotted, only the most idiotic would dare to engage them.

That, or they were looking for them and in place to move the moment they saw sign of their coming. Yuugao chided herself for not thinking—an ambush was definitely likely if things were as bad as they'd been told of—and as they pushed on, the long branches and tall trees of the forests were being left behind so quickly they barely had the time to notice the details. That was alright, if there had been anything out of the ordinary, one of them would have spotted it.

It was frustrating to know that there was nothing she could do but run, and run, and hope they could be of some use when they got there. She wanted to curse Suna for setting them behind on the already tough pace she'd had them on.

But if she had the time and energy to curse, then she had the time and energy to move faster. Yuugao knew better than to waste her resources on futile hate when she had a more important job to do. There would be time enough when they made it back to Konoha. Time to rage and mourn and then pick up and move on as best she could. It would not be on her head to break the new peace they had.

Yuugao loved Hayate, and that love wouldn't disappear for as long as she lived. But she loved her village more, they both had, and so it was for both herself and for him that she would refrain from seeking vengeance for as long as they were allies with Suna. She didn't delude herself into thinking that if an opportunity presented itself that she wouldn't take her due and make it look like it was work of the enemy, but that was a matter to be solved at another time.

And she didn't even know who had killed him. Not yet, not now, and she was kept too busy—deliberately, Yuugao suspected as they raced ever closer to their destination, long wisps of her hair slowly working their way loose from the tight braid she'd coiled around her head for the run—to have much of a chance to research who might have done it.

Peace between shinobi countries was always a fragile thing. Yuugao had not even decided yet if she would go so far as to look for who it was. She wanted to, more than anything, but doubted her resolve—if she knew who Hayate's killer was, would she be able to work with them if their paths crossed? Or would she damn the peace that the village needed now more than it had for the last decade, to do what Hayate himself would have condemned?

Honestly, she didn't know.

The ground slipped away under their feet, ever now and then she allowed them a few minutes to break, to stretch, to keep the exhaustion in their legs from building to the point where they needed to rest longer. The time escaped her, dawn was coming, and Yuugao was glad enough for the distraction of hard work.

However much that she hoped to find things undisturbed, unbroken, and the chit's team still all unaware of their duty, part of her itched for a fight. Just so long as they were alive, she promised. She wouldn't wish harm on a Genin team that she'd never met—especially not one from her village.

But if the girl was caught and they had to retrieve her...

Well, Yuugao was fine with that. Her team, spread out behind her in arrow formation, matched her steps, she was their leader in this and she knew that she was not alone in hoping for a fight. The ANBU were used for the dirtiest missions, the hardest missions, the darkest ones.

They seldom had a chance to play at being heroes. It might be nice, for a change, to get to do so this time around.

Yuugao ran and, like dark birds of death, her team followed.

* * *

It was a blessing that her memory was trained so well, Ino decided, as she felt up the tunnel walls, wincing as fine slivers of rock cut into her hands but didn't let that stop her as she frowned in frustration at the fact that there were clearly two ways to go and, no doubt, another way to go if she just went straight. The tunnel was cramped, her back was aching, and her knees, Ino was sure were going to be cut to ribbons by the end of it. It was so dark that she couldn't even see her hands. Sight was mostly useless here, and she was relying more on her sense of smell and touch. Touch was important.

If her memory hadn't been so used to the exercises that were needed to do Shintenshin no Jutsu, then Ino had no doubt that she'd have been hopelessly lost within moments of having entered the tunnel. And being lost, in a tunnel where she had no real idea of where she was, would have been an awful thing.

She wasn't lost though, and Ino remained confident in her ability to stay that way. It just meant that she had to be careful, and that wasn't something she was going to skimp on considering the situation. Eyes steeled with determination and hair that she was glad now was brown—if anyone happened to spot her, if she found… _when_ she found a way out, then brown hair would go unremarked. The dirt too, she hadn't thought of it before, but underground… if she'd still been blonde, there would have been no hiding that she'd been up to something.

Unnoticed. It was an odd thing for her, who'd always loved being noticed, to hope for the exact opposite. No matter, though, that was the way of things and there was nothing she hoped for more than to be unremarkable and find a way out of this.

Her grasping hands felt around the rock-dirt combination that made up the tunnel, exploring the open ways on either side of her. The right side was too narrow for Megumi-san to get through easily. A further check proved that the left and the path right in front of her were both wide enough for the older shinobi to get through if they used this as their escape route. Ino didn't know if they would, but she thought that it was best to go forward as if that was, in fact, what was going to happen.

After a few moments of careful deliberation, and weighing her odds, she decided to stick to the path that went straight. The less turns she had to remember in this situation, where all she had to rely on was her memory and her hands, the better. Especially if they wound up having to leave in a rush.

Ino crawled down the tunnel, inch by careful inch, and trying to keep in mind Megumi-san's broader shoulders and hips. If something was difficult for Ino to get through, then it would likely be all but impossible for Megumi-san to get through.

In any case, it was easier for her to press forward, always moving even as she sought for a way that could lead them out, than to seriously think about what she'd left behind.

Torture was something that was covered in the Academy, of course it was, there wasn't a ninja school in the world that would dare not cover something like that, but there was a vast difference between seeing the broken bodies in pictures and hearing tales from shinobi who, while bearing fearful scars, were still alive and had come out of it, relatively unscathed in the eyes of the children they talked to.

Ino's mind skittered away from the details of what could possibly be happening to Megumi-san right that moment. If she thought too hard about her, her stomach twisted and her concentration wavered. Down here, underground and surrounded by enemies--Ino couldn't afford to lose her concentration.

Another cross, and Ino was starting to think that every fifteen feet there was going to be a new path to choose, and she had to hope that it wouldn't all be like that--if it was, it'd mean there were more chances of her failing, greater odds of her eventually winding up hopelessly confused (was this turn, or this turn the one she needed to make?) and winding up lost.

Even worse was the fact that, eventually, they'd come looking for her if she got lost. And she would be trapped as a rat in here. Ino paused, taking a moment to try to work the kinks out of her back. It didn't work well, her back was far too cramped in here to get a real stretch in.

She went over that thought again, glancing around the dark tunnel out of reflex even though she couldn't see anything. If she _was_ caught down here, either now, or at some other point, Ino realized, she would have the greatest advantage. None of the enemy shinobi she'd seen so far had been women, and only Megumi-san was anywhere near her in size.

And even in that, Ino was suddenly glad that she hadn't hit her growth spurt yet. If she took after her parents in height, one day, this tunnel would be a lot more painful than it was now. She moved on, hands brushing the side of the tunnel, gaining more cuts and scrapes that stung even as they guided her movements.

It'd be okay, she told herself, trying to shake off all of the depressing things that kept coming to mind. She'd be okay, Megumi-san would be okay, Asuma-sensei, Chouji, Shikamaru would all be okay (and now she had to fight with herself not to wonder too much about them, they surely were better off than she was, and she had a job to do), so she just had to keep moving on.

Further and further into the dark.

* * *

Her throat was raw from screaming, and yet she didn't stop. Couldn't stop if she was honest with herself, but honesty and thought were far away at the moment and Megumi couldn't find it in herself to go after them. Not when everything _hurt_.

The floor was splashed liberally with flecks of red—her blood, and the drain hadn't been put to use yet. She didn't know how long it had been, just that it was going on for longer than she'd thought it would, this was only the first round—

—and the blade, slick with her blood and so sharp that it didn't hurt until the cut was done, drew another long line in her skin—

Time was fluid, she couldn't keep track of it, what had she been thinking? _Had_ she had a train of thought? Was there anything other than pain to focus on... a shift from the back of the room caught her eye and she forced herself to pay attention, to focus on the silver hair and cold cruel eyes of Yakushi. Any port in a storm, and she needed to keep herself whole even as her body was broken under his eyes. Megumi didn't know why, didn't know why she needed to think, just that she had to, and that he was the only key she had at the moment. It was hard, making herself focus, there was pain, and blood, and more of the same until she could barely even hear herself screaming only knowing that she was from the way her throat contributed to the rest of the pain—

And all of a sudden, she could think again. It _burned_. Megumi cried, knowing now that no one would even notice to comment on her tears, not at this point, not while she was being tortured. She could cry, at least, and it was alright. She didn't want to think, didn't want to be aware, didn't want to be able to see and _understand_ what was being done to her.

The safe little shell she'd become, the hollowed out non-thinking being, the one who'd been getting hurt while wearing her body was gone and she mourned its loss. But there were things more important than how much it hurt to think and she'd made greater sacrifices for her duty than this.

She could do this. She _would_ do this.

Even as her body continued to scream, and writhe, twitching with the pain of the little burns, the cuts, the bruises, her mind rode over the pain and was clearer with every second. Even this, she thought, gave her information. It wasn't the first time she'd been tortured, and Megumi knew better than to think it would be the last—there was a difference between confidence and arrogance and while she was confident in her skills Megumi knew there was always someone better—and that she had the ability to manage this much.

Little details could add up, and she focused on those. They weren't taking their time with the torture, there was hardly any interrogation, and Megumi couldn't fathom what Yakushi was thinking. All reports said that he was viciously clever, patient, and ruthless—this break from his pattern meant that either the reports had been completely wrong...

Or this too was part of a plan. Did he want her to break, or not? What good would come of it if she didn't break? There were reports of him healing Hyuuga Hinata just before the Oto invasion, and that too hadn't added up. It made him human, Ibiki had said, and it made him dangerous. If they couldn't predict him, then they had little chance at out-thinking him until they got a better grasp on his personality. And yet, here again, she couldn't understand.

Did it mean they didn't need her to break? That it didn't matter if she was a ninja or not, that if she'd really been just a civilian that they would have done the same thing?

She was going around in circles, and there had to be a simpler answer. 'Keep it simple' was a basic tenant of every shinobi teaching. The more complicated a plan the more likely it was to fall apart.

Simple, then. She was missing something obvious. What good would hurting her this badly—and even now her body was being cut into and words that she'd ceased making sense of were being taunted into her ears, they were vile words, of course, and worse with every passing minute—do?

What if—?

Megumi's eyes widened, even as a deeper cut than most was sliced down her arm, and her mind thought furiously. There was a moment, maybe longer, she couldn't tell, as the world in front of her eyes went white, then red and everything was too loud in her ears before receding. What if the purpose of this wasn't to break her, but to break Ino-kun?

_Shit_. That might even work, Megumi knew that Ino-kun didn't have even a fifth of the training that she had, and had never seen the results of torture up close and personal. All it would take would be for her to snap enough to try healing some of the wounds and... the game would be up.

And there was nothing at all that Megumi could do about it. That, more than the blood, more than the injuries that would make escaping difficult if not impossible unless they had a distraction—not to mention the fact that they still didn't have even the faintest plan for a way out—more than the worry that they might torture Ino-kun... that frightened her. She would have to entrust their luck to a green Genin in a situation the girl shouldn't have been in at all in the first place.

It was a bitter pill to swallow.

Luck had seldom been kind to Megumi, and depending on it so heavily wasn't something that thrilled her. Her breathing was ragged, and things were starting to not hurt at all—which was a bad sign, her mind noted wearily, even her thoughts were slowing down.

She would have to just believe that Ino-kun continued to surpass her expectations. Megumi didn't know if she could afford to hope for that.

But it was all she had. Unconsciousness swallowed her before she even had time to realize it was coming—and the next time she woke up... Megumi would know if she'd been right to hope, or not.

* * *

"Asuma-sensei talked to me," Shikamaru muttered, as he and Chouji got back from another food run, and slipped inside the hotel. The desk clerks just waved them on through. Their cover was holding still, and part of him was bemused by that considering everything that was happening in their room.

Chouji glanced sidelong at Shikamaru as they started up the stairs, bags swinging from their arms. "I know," he said calmly, "he told me that he would."

And Chouji had believed that Asuma-sensei would do as he'd said. Their sensei was many things, up to and including a liar when it suited him, but he took the team, their team seriously enough and didn't appreciate it at all when things fell apart.

"He said I was being stupid—"

"You are."

Shikamaru continued like there hadn't been an interruption, "—and that everything was being done to help out."

Chouji sighed. "It's not like that ought to be a surprise. Asuma-sensei wants to get Ino back too, you know." So did he. Maybe if she was back then their team would feel more like it used to instead of him being irritated at everything, Shikamaru sulking worse than Ino ever did, and Asuma-sensei hadn't had a cigarette in nearly twelve hours. He'd been keeping track, and was mildly impressed that their sensei wasn't showing any signs of withdrawal other than being more focused than ever.

The ANBU agents were sleeping soundly inside the hotel room. Yuuta-san glanced up as they entered the room, having knocked out the proper sequence first. They went to go and put the food out on the counter.

He didn't get a response to that. A glance over at Shikamaru had Chouji sighing again. "I'm not mad at you." And he wasn't, not really, even though he doubted that he'd forget about this for a good long while, Asuma-sensei was right, there were lessons to be learned here too. Chouji had no plans to make the same mistake twice. "But you need to straighten up if we're going to have any chance to _help_ get Ino back."

That got Shikamaru looking at him. "I have been paying attention," his friend said dryly, "and Asuma-sensei was quite clear on that."

"Then act like it," he replied. "It's bad enough already, we don't need you acting worse than Ino on a bad day to make things worse."

The snicker that earned him was worth the twinge of guilt he felt at making light of Ino at this time. "I haven't been that bad," Shikamaru protested, and his eyes still looked amused, if slightly put out.

"Of course not," Chouji said, before adding on, "you've been worse."

And through the amusement, he was telling the truth. Even if Ino at her worst was _louder_ than Shikamaru.

"You're not going to let me forget this, are you?"

It was so carefully neutral that Chouji spent a moment just bustling with the food before answering. "Do you think I should?"

He could feel the weight of Shikamaru's gaze on his back. "No."

A smile flitted over Chouji's face. "Then I won't. So let's get to work—Asuma-sensei's still out on patrol right, Yuuta-san?"

Yuuta didn't even glance up. "He's to check back in half an hour."

"Half an hour," Shikamaru muttered, as they went to go and sit on the floor against the bare wall. "Not much time to plan anything."

"You can do it," Chouji said serenely. "First step is finding out where they are, and what condition they're in."

"Asuma-sensei might have that information," Shikamaru mused, sounding more like himself than he had for awhile as he pulled out a notepad and a pen. "Might. If not we'll have to add a few other steps, so it's probably best to plan for more. They were last seen in their rooms, right?"

"From what we've found out so far, that's right..." They bent their heads together over the notepad, murmuring ideas to give their sensei when he got back.

Unseen by either of them, Yuuta smiled approvingly.

* * *

It wasn't anything really obvious at first. Slowly though the fact that the dark—the dark that she'd been crawling through for what felt like forever—was lightening, bit by bit. In the beginning it was just being able to feel that the dark was less full, and as she moved on, hardly daring to hope for fear that it would simply be a lie, the dark slowly grew grey.

The walls of the tunnels became visible, the small rocks that she'd been running her bruised bleeding hands over, and the more painful bumps from the ceiling were no long surprises found out painfully, but she could see them coming and better avoid them.

Quicker then, she crawled, careful still to make sure she remembered every twist, every turn of the path, and made sure that her route would be large enough for Megumi-san. Though, even Ino had to admit, that though she did her best, some of it was going to be likely a tight and painful fit for Megumi-san. The tunnel, this far out was narrowing, and though it was a slow difference, it was a noticeable one.

She was just starting to fear that there was no way that Megumi-san would be able to make it down the tunnel she was in (and debating silently, but heatedly with herself, about the merits of turning back, away from this light, and trying to see if she could re-find it through another, larger tunnel) when there was the unmistakable sound of birds.

Ino froze, pressing her body flat against the cold rock and dirt of the tunnel floor, and focused on suppressing her chakra. Birds could mean freedom, she knew that, but they were also the single most common means of communication between shinobi—bird calls, how to imitate them so well that they sounded like the real thing, was taught in the Academy—and she didn't dare get caught here.

Her progress now was even slower—inch by inch, so slow that internally she chafed at the pace even while admonishing herself to hold steady and not speed up. What if she took so long that they returned to the cell and found that she was missing? If that happened... Ino knew she was inexperienced as a shinobi compared to Megumi-san, but even she knew that the likelihood of their captors leaving Megumi-san alive were, well, slim to nonexistent.

The dirt was leaving her fingernails filthy, and Ino had made a face at that before she realized, with something almost like shock, that there was actually enough light for her to make out a detail like that.

She crouched, almost curled in on herself just before a bend in the tunnel. Around it was the source of light, and fresh air. Ino could feel the difference on her skin, even as she shivered, it was cold—underground she hadn't noticed as much, her attention too focused on everything else to note the temperature. Here, though, it cut through her skin, through the thin yukata she'd been wearing back from the baths, and Ino shivered.

Winter in the Fire Country may not have had snow, but it was cold enough if you weren't properly dressed. Ino inched her way around the corner, the tunnel was angling upwards, but she could see the opening—it was small but the light through it was real, as was the air and sounds.

Ino made herself not rush, even though all she wanted to do was crawl as quickly as she could to it, just so she could get out of the tunnel that felt more and more oppressive with every second longer she was in it.

The hole, when she reached it, was too small for her shoulders to slip through. Ino bit her lip, glancing up through it at the sky. Crouching precariously on the incline, Ino raised her hands carefully to start deliberately widening the hole.

It was difficult—the rocks bit into her hands, making her bite down hard to stifle any sound of pain that wanted to escape, and her eyes watered when the dust from her work got into her eyes. Her arms were aching, her shoulders felt like they were on fire, by the time she had the hole wide enough for, Ino thought, in her best estimation, both her and Megumi-san to slip out through.

Sticking her head up through the opening, Ino took a deep breath of the air, looking around and seeing nothing and no one in the immediate area. It was another thing to be glad for—the number of wooded areas that were to be found in this country. Hoisting herself up, Ino sprawled on the cool grass—it smelled like green, and the slightest hint of frost damped her clothing.

Ino didn't care. She closed her eyes, cheek pressed against ground, and just breathed for a few minutes before forcing herself up, up to her feet, and staggering—as her knees made their opinion of all the crawling around she'd been doing known—over to a nearby tree to lean against it.

Her hands throbbed, her knees were bloody, and filthy, her face probably looked like a tear-streaked raccoon's and her back, arms, shoulders all had their own complaints about the abuse she'd been putting them through.

But she was outside. In the clear air.

Ino made herself move despite the pain, she needed to get a read on where she'd come out in relation to everything nearby, and that meant the easiest way was up a tree. None of her body liked that idea, and she was breathing heavily, raggedly, by the time she made it up high enough to see the surrounding area.

She rested there, staring out at Aomori-shi for a long time with dull eyes before shifting to glance back at the way she'd come. Ino couldn't see the tunnel from her perch in the tree, but she knew it was there. No one would blame her, she thought, if she ran, and ran, and headed right for Asuma-sensei.

She was just a Genin, people would say, of course she'd go for help.

Ino didn't think she had the time though. If she went for help, then anything that happened to Megumi-san because of her disappearance would be all her fault. Ino stared down at the city, she couldn't tell from here where the hotel was that the others were staying at.

It didn't matter, she realized. Even if it was stupid, her choice had been made before she'd even started climbing the tree. It didn't matter that the odds were high that her disappearance would already have been remarked on and that Megumi-san could already be paying for it... if that was the case, then she'd be better off doing the smart thing and getting herself out and to safety.

Her eyes narrowed, and her jaw firmed. 'Smart' wasn't a word that people tended to apply to her family when it came to their decisions in the field. And for good reason, Ino was discovering, as she made her way painfully down the tree, doing her best to leave no traces of her passing.

Yamanaka in the field, after all, had two major characteristics—sheer dumb luck, of course, and they knew good and well how to take advantage of that when it came up.

But the other characteristic was, well, pure pig-headed stubbornness. They were well-named. _Boar_.

It was that stubbornness that had her walking over to the tunnel, and dropping down into it. It was that nerve that had her back down on her knees, even as they protested vehemently, as she headed back the way she'd come. The light faded as she moved away from the opening, back into the dark, back to feeling her way by touch and hoping she'd not forgotten anything.

And it was that unwavering determination that let her think she'd make it back in time.

* * *

It was just past noon when they stopped on the outskirts of Aomori-shi. Nibbling on a rations bar, Yuugao scoped out the place. She hadn't been here before, never had a mission to this spot in specific even though she'd had passed it more than once.

"How're we going in?" Shunsuke asked, pushing his mask up long enough to drink from his water flask. "Civilians, or play the just passing through friendly ninja angle? It is within our borders—Konoha ninja can't be that rare around here."

She mulled over it. "I would rather wait until dusk," Yuugao admitted, "so we could go fully kitted out. As it is though, we don't have the time to waste. Civilian gear, but make sure you're fully outfitted under it. The sky is grey—wear your cloaks and do your best to look like we're just expecting to get caught in the rain." That would give them more leeway in what they wore into the village.

"We know the inn they're at. Once inside, we split up, one group to scout out their position, one group to track down Yuuta's team. If this is a false alarm no harm, no foul, keep it quiet and simple. If we're lucky, then we're in and out within six hours and heading back home with the all-clear from Yuuta. That's the best case scenario."

They spent a while longer just resting, no time for sleep right yet, but enough so that they weren't quite so strung out and tired, before putting the plan, such as it was, into action. No need for a detailed plan of motion when they didn't even know exactly what was going to be needed. The transformation from ANBU agents to civilians simply seeking shelter from the on-coming storm (and Yuugao had to admit that she appreciated the fact that the weather in the winter made it easier to pull off simple deceptions like that--anyone with eyes could see that another storm was coming).

She left her hair down, loose, knowing that even just that aided in their being perceived as harmless, and they approached the gates, getting through easily. No one paid any more attention to them than they did to other travelers.

Splitting into two teams, her and the quiet Touya went to go and inspect the area around the Daimyo's house and grounds, while Shunsuke and Kouhei went to the hotel. The grounds were all but bustling this time of day, and they didn't even try to slip inside through any of the obvious access points.

Carefully, oh so carefully, they snuck in through the gardens--all Konoha ninja were stronger in the midst of their natural environment, and trees were just about as close as possible to emulating the forests around their home--and were, within short order, inside the compound. Their cloaks had been left high up in a tree where the only thing that was likely to happen to them were birds making messes of them.

Both of them could live with that, and easily.

Then, of course, just as they were moving to go and inspect the compound fully, it was that one of Shunsuke's robins alighted on her shoulder, cheeping urgently.

Yuugao froze, a quick gesture from her had Touya slinking off to guard while she conversed with the small bird. It was too little a summon for full speech, but everyone who worked with Shunsuke knew well enough the basic code that the bird used to communicate.

She listened, relaxing slightly when she realized that it was not there to warn of pending attack, but rather of the fact that Yuuta and the others were at the hotel. Whistling out a quick tune--it was one of the more common ditty's in this area, and she knew good and well that it'd go unnoticed this time of the day--she called Shunsuke back.

They made for the hotel with easy speed and Yuugao couldn't help the slow smile that ghosted across her face.

"You're looking forward to a fight," Touya observed.

No point in denying it. "So what if I am?"

So what, indeed.

* * *

By the time she reached the cell they were being kept in, Ino was fighting back tears from pain in earnest. She couldn't heal her knees right now, or her hands, and all she could really do was try not to think too much on just how bad everything hurt.

The human body was not meant to spend hours crawling around in the dark, on hands and knees, where sharp rocks and bumpy ceilings were what the world narrowed down to. She huddled, a pained heap of a girl, just under the opening that lead back into the room and tried to clear her mind enough to listen.

She couldn't hear anything. Ino didn't know if that was good or bad but, choosing to believe that it meant her disappearance hadn't been found out, knew that she couldn't stay just outside of the room. If Megumi-san hadn't been returned yet, then surely she would soon. Ino forced herself up on one knee, and then the other, using her arms to lift herself out of the shallow depth that only a few short hours ago she'd jumped down easily.

Once in the room, Ino knew better than to stop moving before as much evidence of her 'adventure' was as hidden as she could make it. The most important one, of course, was the hole in the wall. Strangling the whimpers of pain that the slab of rock elicited from her hands Ino forced it back the way it had been before she'd leaned against it. In the near dark of the room—and now she could tell that it wasn't nearly as dark as the tunnel, though it had seemed to be so before she'd gone out—she thought the panel looked about the same.

It would have to do. Ino scuffed the floor, gathering up the threadbare blankets they had, and wrapping them around her tightly. They would have to do as camouflage for now, and she scrubbed at her face, trying to get rid of the dirt, of the tear tracks, knowing that there was no way she'd be able to get her face as clean as it had been before her trip.

Eventually she gave it up as a lost cause—she couldn't tell how her face was, just that it felt scraped and there was no way in this dark little room of making it cleaner. Ino buried her face against her knees, huddling up in a little blanketed ball, and making sure it covered her hands in addition to everything else.

She was grateful that her hair was brown. If it had been blonde for this mission the dirt that she could feel, grainy and gross against her skull, would have been obvious just from a glance. In the dark though, Ino wagered her hair had a fair chance at going unnoticed. Making herself breathe deep and even she forced herself to relax slowly, just a little, in the hopes of giving her back and shoulders some relief.

Ino was fast asleep within minutes.

It was later, hours, minutes, days, she didn't know how much later it was, when the door to the cell slammed open with a crash and she jerked awake, her muscles protesting their sudden use after her folly of falling asleep without properly stretching them out. Ino squinted against the harsh light of the lanterns and huddled further into her blanket as two men in flak jackets and hitae-ite strode into the room with the limp form of a woman between them.

Her heart caught in her throat, there was only one woman that it could be, and Ino couldn't help the way her breathing sped up as she fought off panic. "Onee-san--!" she made herself tumble off the low, hard bed, hoping it passed inspection of a reaction of someone who'd just woken up, and nothing more suspicious than that as she clutched the blanket tighter around her and over to the trio.

"She's still alive," one of them said, in a low gravelly voice. "Be glad she's unconscious, little one."

A tiny, tiny part of herself wondered how young she must appear right that moment to earn that. Big eyed, messy hair, tear stains and clinging to a blanket as she let new tears well up and fall over the still form of her sister.

She hovered anxiously, making little noises of distress as the two shinobi put Megumi-san down on the bed she'd just vacated with surprising gentleness. That, she noted with a part of herself that Ino hadn't even been aware of being able to be so cold before this mission, meant that Megumi-san hadn't broken, that she'd managed to keep up the charade of them being just siblings with an unfortunate tale.

If she'd broken, no doubt they'd have been a lot rougher.

Ino had a split second, as they set her down, to debate how to further that impression in their minds—it was a useful one, and if they'd kept it up so long then it would be nothing but a waste to give up. And then, as the two shinobi straightened up, Ino burst into tears, that were mostly fake, but at the same time were a relief to be able to cry all at once, and just sobbed into the blanket, wailing something about she wanted to go home and that they hadn't done anything to deserve this, and her poor Onee-san was dead, dead, _dead_...

A large hand patted her awkwardly on the shoulder, and Ino, fighting the urge to cringe away, instead made herself lean into it. "She'll wake up," the first voice said again, "she not dead."

That was all the reassurance she got as Junko-chan, as the hand and the shinobi who it belonged to passed by her, as she continued to cry, but hurried to her 'sister's' side, as the men headed for the door.

"Poor fuckers," the other muttered, as they stepped out of the room, taking their lanterns with them. "Look at them, they're nothing but—"

The other shushed him with a glance, and Ino gave no sign of having noticed, all her attention outwardly focused on her 'sister'. Their cell door shut, and the ominous sounds of the locks being slid back into place made her shiver even as her hands—rubbed as clean on the blanket as she could manage—gently reached to inspect Megumi-san's wounds.

Pain, she realized, with a heavy heart, the injuries had all been inflicted to cause the maximum amount of pain with the least bit of damage being done. Ino wished, again, that she could use her chakra to help smooth out the ache of at least a few of the wounds.

She didn't dare though, and instead devoted herself to sniffling (for the audience she was sure they had) and doing her best to make Megumi-san as comfortable as possible in the circumstances. At one point water and a meager bit of food was brought by, and Ino used about half the water for cleaning both her knees and hands out, as well as Megumi-san's injuries.

Hours later, she thought anyway, her sense of time was out of whack, the air changed as Megumi-san woke up.

"Onee-san?" 'Junko' quavered, as she lowered her head to touch Megumi-san's hair, and her cheek, knowing that even as injured as she was, Megumi-san would note the scrapes on her hands.

"Junko-chan," Megumi-san's voice was pained, but clear. "What have you been up too?" It was a question on many levels. Ino knew which one she wanted answered most.

She lowered her head further, until her lips were near Megumi-san's ear—she didn't know enough sign language to get a message like this across. "Waiting for you to wake up," she wobbled out, even as she added, in a voice that was scarcely above a whisper—

"I found a way out."

* * *

Please review!


	15. Chapter 10: Misjudged III

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 10 Misjudged (Part III)  
Author: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 10 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

_I found a way out_.

The words echoed around in her head, taking Megumi a few moments to put them together, and when she did, her hands tightened on the hard bed, digging against the stone only to find it didn't really affect it.

Ino-kun's hand on her cheek felt rough and a bit ragged. She focused on that, as she tried to think of a way to say something that would get her more information without alerting their watchers. Even as hurt as she was, she knew they had to be present.

"I'm awake," she said soothingly, even though it hurt. "Is there any water, Junko-chan?"

"There's a bit," Ino-kun said, almost apologetically as she slid away to get the water. "I was thirsty, so there's not as much as there was. But there should be enough. I'm so glad you're back."

Megumi nodded, closing her eyes and thinking as furiously as the pain in her body would allow her. There was a way out, Ino-kun had found it, but going from the condition of her hands, Megumi could guess that it wasn't the easiest way out. (There was never an easy way out.) The knowledge, though, that they could get out was one she was glad to know.

(It made hope easier to grasp.)

She slowly pushed herself into a seated position, careful of her injuries, and even so feeling a few of them open to bleed sluggishly. They stung, but she had felt worse, had worse, and there was a way out.

Ino-kun too, she knew, would be able to help. Even just in training, as she'd read in Ino-kun's file, the girl wasn't bad at medic training. Not, it had read, spectacularly skilled—that was the Hokage's apprentice, everyone agreed—but talented enough that, had she the inclination, she'd have made a decent medic nin. It hadn't taken Megumi long, upon meeting the girl, to see why she hadn't gone for it, and why Hokage-sama hadn't pushed for it.

At fourteen, it was already obvious that the girl was ill-suited to a life spent healing.

A hiss of pain escaped her, and while she could've held it in, there was no point when they were, for all intents and purposes supposed to be civilians.

"I've got the water, Onee-sama," Ino-kun said, hovering now and looking like she wasn't sure if she was supposed to hand over the cup, or not, and to all appearances was close to wringing her hands in dismay.

Megumi solved that problem by reaching for it. Carefully, and letting her breath out slowly. "I'll be okay," she said soothingly, "it'll be okay, Junko-chan." It wasn't, but it was the sort of thing an older sister would say. And she wasn't dead yet, though Megumi wouldn't want to try fighting in her current condition.

Ino-kun bobbed her head, damping a bit of cloth and using it to press against one of the wounds that were bleeding. There was a very real bit of frustration in her eyes. "I wish I could do more for you."

Because she _could_ do more, and both of them knew it. If not for the guards, the silent watchers, who were keeping an eye on everything they said and did...

"You're doing enough just by being here," she said, shifting so the injury was easier for her to access. Ino-kun's eyes dropped as she sighed. Megumi sipped at the water, grateful for it even if it wasn't the best quality. Water was precious. "I don't want you to wind up like this."

And worse yet, if she were caught using chakra.

Ino-kun's voice was quiet. "I know, Onee-sama."

There was silence then, but for the pained noises she let past her lips and the soft slosh of water and the rag, she didn't know where Ino-kun had gotten it, but that didn't matter. Once they got away from here, it would be simple enough to get rid of many of the cuts.

At Ino-kun's age, and remembering what had been noted about her chakra levels in the file, Megumi doubted that she had the strength to take care of all of the injuries, not in one go, but there were ways to dull the pain, even still.

Eventually the wounds were cleaned as well as they could be considering the circumstances, and they settled on the pallet together, for all the world looking like they were just two sisters huddled miserably together with a blanket around their shoulders.

In a way, that was correct. They just weren't sisters. Under the cover of the blanket, and hoping the relative darkness would cover everything else, Megumi took the time to inspect Ino-kun's hands. Ripped up, and tender, she felt, but didn't hear, the flinch Ino-kun gave at that.

Sore then; she could sympathize. The way the skin was rent through gave her an idea for how Ino-kun had been moving. With a bit of a sigh, she carefully inspected Ino-kun's knees. It earned her a bigger flinch, but still no sound.

Megumi left off her inspection, there was no point in bringing more pain around when they had quite enough to share already. "It'll be alright, Junko-chan," she said soothingly. Her fingers found Ino-kun's bare arm and traced out, in shinobi sign language, very simply: _Where?_

It had to be in this room.

Ino-kun sighed, looking like she was relaxing slightly, even as her eyes fell shut to further cover the gleam in them. "It'd be better if there was a window," Ino lamented. "So we could at least see the light. It's scary, Onee-sama, the dark."

Her lips curved slightly. There was her answer—not precise, of course, but a good enough of one. It was in the wall opposite of the door. "Close your eyes, and sleep, little dreamer," she said, reaching carefully to brush one hand in Ino-kun's hair, pausing for a moment at feeling the bits of dirt in it, before continuing on. "And if we're lucky, we'll be let out soon. We haven't done anything wrong."

Ino-kun nodded, falling silent, and Megumi stared into the dark, not looking at the wall, but not avoiding it either, as the Genin by her side fell asleep.

They had a way out. Now they only needed a distraction.

* * *

To anyone watching, he just looked like a man with a cigarette who was sitting languidly on top of the children's slide in the neatly kept park. He was, in fact, exactly that—so anyone watching wouldn't be entirely wrong.

They wouldn't be entirely right either, though.

Asuma took a drag on his cigarette, letting the smoke puff up in neat little circles and returned to his studying of the area. If it hadn't been that this was the easiest way to look at ease, he'd not have had one. The cravings made it easier to concentrate, but as it was he would have one, but only one, and make it last as long as he could. This was where Shikamaru and Chouji had disobeyed him, this was the starting point from where they'd gone on to find Yuuta and Kobayashi and brought them back.

Which meant, potentially, that it was an entry point back into the complex. Of course he couldn't look like he was checking out the area, so the cigarette.

A rustling in the grass caught his attention, and held it as the rustling didn't stop as it got closer to him. Outwardly he still looked completely at ease, but his mind raced, and he casually placed his hand on his thigh—where, not so coincidently he had shuriken available.

There was a squeak, and then another. He listened, almost bemused now, as the mouse—it had to be mouse—squeaked out Kotone's passcode. With a sigh that was entirely false, Asuma stubbed out the cigarette, tucking the butt into one of his pouches—no need to waste good nicotine—and climbed down the slide. He'd have leapt down, but it was hard, in the growing dark to tell exactly where the creature was.

Once on the ground, it was an easy thing to pretend he'd dropped something and, kneeling to pick it up, was unsurprised when a mouse quickly darted up his arm, coming to rest up on his shoulder.

"Report," he murmured, straightening up carefully, not wanting to knock the little guy off his shoulder. "Name and allegiance."

The brush of whiskers against his neck was his first answer. "Dai," the mouse squeaked, sounding as amused as a mouse could. "Kotone-sama."

Asuma nodded, shushing the mouse and walking slowly, and easily, towards the wooded area. It was a risk, yes, but he had to get out of clear sight, where anyone walking by would be able to notice that he had something sitting on his shoulder. Aomori-shi had been awash rumours of siblings plotting against the Daimyo, and the last thing he needed--_they_ needed—was rumours of that sort getting fuel like this. He didn't need to be linked, even in silhouette, to a conspiracy like that.

Not, he thought wryly, as he entered the first bit of greenery, when he was, in fact, mixed up in it already. There was no need to be sloppy though. Not when he'd so recently been on his other students' for that one.

"Report," he said, once he had his back to a tree, it didn't matter that it was damp, just that he wasn't fully exposed.

Dai did. Asuma found that the longer he listened to the little mouse, the easier it was to ignore the squeaky-undertone and the odd way some of the words were emphasized. It was about what he had suspected--their capture, the way that the mouse had been sent to find help.

And a great deal of added grumbling that if she'd wanted help quicker, Kotone-sama ought to have sent a bigger mouse, or one that had his scent--not, Dai conceded, would it have done much good considering that it had been raining off and on and scents were all but impossible to track.

That got a chuckle, though it wasn't funny. "She did the best she could," he said quietly.

A cold nose pressed against his neck. "I know," Dai said, muttering half-heartedly, "best can still be improved on though."

"You're here now," Asuma replied, "and so we'll work it out--we'll get them out of there." He had to believe that, less for Kotone--who was quite able to take care of herself, and had the training to do so--and more for Ino. This was no laughing matter to him.

He didn't want to have to tell her parents that she'd gotten killed on a mission that she shouldn't even have been on in the first place. He shook his head, very slightly, filling his lungs with the damp but familiar scent of sodden leaves and ground so soaked through that it moved under his feet no matter how careful he was in stepping through the loam and accumulated debris of a wooded area.

"Have you been able to pinpoint where they are?" he asked, fingers itching for a cigarette and making himself ignore that urge. Dai had been, when the little mouse hadn't been able to find him, searching through the manor for any sign of where they'd taken the girls.

An affirmative squeak answered that question.

Turning it over in his head, it didn't take long to come to a conclusion--his boys could wait for him a little longer, this was a lead they needed. "Take me," he said, a dark smile crossing his face.

It was _good_ to be doing something. They went. Asuma on silent feet, picking his way through the undergrowth, and into the grounds. Dai muttering instructions against his neck. Their progress got slower as he slipped into the building, knowing that already he was over-due to return to the hotel, that they'd be concerned, but that now he was here and there was no turning back.

People were still awake--late enough that they were starting to head to their sleeping quarters, but not so late that most of the household was asleep. Careful henges--he was a pot of plants, an ornate curtain complete with bow, a half open door--one of the basic jutsu but used to its fullest capabilities. There was a good reason why it was taught in the Academy--get the kids used to thinking that they could change shape, look like something else, and it used so little chakra that even an Academy student could hold it for a good while.

He could go for days like this, and had, way back in the war. It felt not good, not exactly, but like slipping on an old glove--_comfortable_. Asuma prided himself on being a good Jounin sensei, but he had never particularly wanted to be one. This, though, he _liked_.

An hour and a half it took him, henging his way through the complex, avoiding people, avoiding sight, and using as little chakra as humanly possible to sneak through unnoticed--too much chakra and the enemy shinobi would notice for sure. Too little, and the henge wouldn't be solid enough. He didn't need a see-through illusion.

"Down there," Dai said, nose practically in his ear, and sounding a great deal more respectful than he had before this.

Asuma studied the door, the steps, that lead down into what looked like a cellar in an out of the way part of the grounds. Risking it, right now, with just him was out of the question. Even as the fact that he had to turn back grated on his nerves. His student was past that door.

So were enemy shinobi, and he had no idea how many of them there were.

"Good," he said, setting the mouse down on the ground. "Get the layout of it, see how many people there are. Wait for me in the park when you're done."

The mouse nodded, skittering through the tiny space between the floor and door, and was gone.

Asuma, not wanting to linger, began the slow process of getting out of the building. They had a rescue to plan, and now they knew where the girls were.

Time to get moving.

* * *

Asuma-sensei was late.

Nearly three hours now, from when Yuuta-san had said he'd was supposed to check in, and Shikamaru had to focus, again, on the plans he and Chouji were trying to put together--even if they turned out to be useless, it was something to do other than stare at the team of ANBU that had arrived an hour ago.

Their leader, a tall long-haired woman, was talking in a murmur to Yuuta, the other three members of the squad having gone off to get another room--there was no way their poor hotel room could hold nine people--ten, he corrected, when Asuma-sensei got back.

And twelve when they got Ino and Megumi-san out of trouble. Too many people, too many thoughts, what was he thinking again?

Shikamaru gazed around the room—Chouji half asleep by now, getting what rest he could while sitting on the rough carpet of the room, his back against the wall. The two wounded ANBU—Shimako and Kobayashi hadn't stirred yet, and no wonder, they needed sleep. Yuuta and Kamiya-san, he thought that was her name, paying him no attention.

Fine. Good, even. It gave him more room to concentrate. Except that he couldn't. It gnawed on his nerves—first Ino and Megumi-san, and now Asuma-sensei hadn't checked back in.

He was _going_ to focus. Despite all of that, there were still things he could do, and Shikamaru glanced through the notes he'd taken about their current equipment and what they knew for sure that their sensei had. His shadow shifted, spooling out and making the shadows under his legs, where his knees crossed, under his arms, darker. Thicker.

Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath, wishing once again that his shadow was better under his control. This mission, of all things, was wrecking havoc on the uneasy state of shadow. His father had warned him of the possibility, Shikamaru had discounted it, figuring that the mission wouldn't go horribly wrong, and now wished that he had paid more attention to what had been said.

There were times when laziness was the worst route. He'd figured out that his emotions played greatly into it, but meditating wasn't his strong point—concentrating on a problem, sure, that was no issue, but actually meditating, he had more difficulty with. They didn't have the time for him to find a good place to lay out and watch the sky until he felt more stable.

He wasn't going to _get_ more stable, so he was just going to have to deal and keep on moving. Thinking. Acting and reacting. Shikamaru had no interest in being sent home, in disgrace, though that was a mild thing compared to the fact that Ino wasn't around to scold him.

A smile made his lips twitch as he thought about what she'd say if she saw him doing so little. It'd be loud, and cutting, and probably right—not that he'd admit to it, not out-loud and not to her.

He missed her.

He shook his head, trying to clear it—what sort of maudlin thoughts were _those_?—as, at the door, a careful sequence of raps was tapped out, one by one, in a very recognizable pattern.

Asuma-sensei.

Scrambling to his feet, shaking sleep from his eyes, sleep he'd been ignoring in favour of fretting, he watched as Yuuta went on silent feet to get the door. That it was knocking and nothing else was a good sign, but he knew the other man had been concerned as time had stretched further and further past the point when he had been supposed to come back.

It was him, however, and while he looked grim, there was the scent of cigarette smoke clinging in the air. He was silent as the door was shut behind him, looking askance at Kamiya. Chouji wide-awake and looking, if you knew him well, disgruntled about the sudden return to full alertness.

"ANBU reinforcements showed up while you were out," Shikamaru said, filling the silence. "Kamiya-san and her team. They've secured the room next to ours."

Asuma-sensei glanced for confirmation at Yuuta and Shikamaru tried not to let that grate on his nerves. He'd admitted that he'd been acting childish and worse during a mission where lives were on the line, so he couldn't really blame him. His shadow shifted under him, and Shikamaru spent a moment with his attention less on his sensei and more on calming the stupid thing down.

He needed to spend more time with his dad, just to get this under control. The last thing he needed was to run more missions with his shadow reacting to every bump and curve of his temper. Made it hard to lie, even if the lying was even just to himself.

"Good," Asuma-sensei said eventually, bowing his head to Kamiya-san. "If you could call your team together, I've got a lead with more information forthcoming."

Chouji perked up at that, as did Shikamaru, and it was amazing how fast the rest of the ANBU assembled in the room, perched on every available surface, and looking both lethal—they had their masks down, Shikamaru suspected it was under orders to kept their identities from getting out, he doubted that Kamiya was her real name—and utterly silent. _Creepy_.

"In two hours," Asuma-sensei said, looking mildly amused and Shikamaru didn't know why, "we'll be meeting the source in the park on the western side of the target's location. Our source may be a bit late, the distances are a bit much at his size, but he's absolutely Konoha-loyal, and furthermore, loyal to Amaya-san."

Yuuta was smirking now. "Dai got a hold of you?"

_Dai?_ Shikamaru put that thought on hold while Asuma-sensei nodded. "That's what took so long—he took me in to do preliminary scouting, and as we speak is trying to get in further to see if he can better pin-point their location. He'll have an update in a few hours."

"Should we continue to patrol?" Chouji asked, breaking the silence.

"No," he said, "you'll be coming with us." He didn't look happy about it either.

"Is that wise?" Kamiya-san interjected. "They're green, and this is a retrieval mission."

Shikamaru held his breath, Chouji beside him doing the same. He didn't know why Asuma-sensei was letting them in on the mission—he, at least, had certainly not been behaving anything like he was supposed to be, and this should've been... a prime time to leave him out of things. He _wanted_ to go though.

"Because," Asuma-sensei said, a frown crossing his face. "They'll never stop being green without experience. And... if they're hurt, the boys are the ones that know her the best. She'll be less likely to freak out if she's past the point of being able to fully recognize help."

Shikamaru's heart settled in his chest, tight and cold.

Kamiya-san's ANBU mask gave nothing of her feelings away. But she nodded. "It'll be up to you to keep yourselves alive," she said crisply, glancing at him and Chouji. "We'll help if we can, but from the sounds of it, we'll be dealing with a lot of things at once. If you can't keep up, stay here."

They nodded. Shikamaru knew that what he was thinking, and what Chouji was thinking was the same--they'd keep up, come hell or high water.

* * *

Cool air prickled along his arms, raising goosebumps on the bare skin. The wind carried the weight of rain, blowing the leaves on the trees upside down so that their pale undersides were shown. Shikamaru made sure his hair was tied back securely—one thing that both him and Ino shared before a mission, the need to tie back their hair—and flexed his hands. The playground they were in looked less amusing, and more ominous in the dark.

Around him, his shadow blotted out the ground. Asuma-sensei gave it a long glance, but said nothing, his face set and determined. Chouji to his right, looking almost serene, and the ANBU—Kamiya-san's team, Yuuta and the others remaining at the hotel—faded into the background but for their masks. Pale smudges in the darkness, ominous in their expressionless features.

Shikamaru looked away from them, and shifted uneasily. They creeped him out, and that was the whole point of ANBU. To be nightmarish—taking the hardest, dirtiest missions, and doing them no matter what the mission was about. He couldn't imagine doing that.

He had enough trouble with his nightmares already. Something else to talk to his dad about when they got back with Ino.

A rustling noise in the grass had them all snapping to attention.

"It's Dai," Asuma-sensei said, kneeling on one knee and resting his hand flat on the ground as the rustling came closer to him. "I recognize the chakra signature. Stand down."

There was the unmistakable hiss of live steel being drawn from a scabbard. The tall ANBU—Kamiya-san, he could tell by her hair—stepped up beside him, one hand carrying the katana. "Better safe than sorry," she murmured in a voice that barely reached his ears. Shikamaru could only agree with that. This whole mission was one long exercise in learning to be more careful. Control your temper, control your actions, remember that everything had an equal and opposite reaction.

That things had consequences. It was something he'd learnt before—he wouldn't forget what had happened on That Mission—but apparently... it hadn't stuck. He watched silently as an animal skittered up Asuma-sensei's arm. Dai, then.

A mouse? He thought so, but it'd take better light or getting closer to see for sure. Instead of giving in to his nerves, Shikamaru remained where he was, keeping an eye out, and simply did his job.

Some things were too important to mess up. He refused to be the one that, if anything happened—and it had better _not_--that was the cause of the problem.

Walking on thin ice, and he knew it. Asuma-sensei wouldn't hesitate, and while part of him rebelled—it wasn't like he was trying to act out—part of him understood that. Being a leader, being someone useful, was more than rank. He just had to remember that.

Should've been easier to remember, something like that, than it had been. He watched, silently, as Asuma-sensei murmured in a voice too soft to be heard to the mouse while the mouse settled itself on his shoulders and talked back.

The squeak of his voice was audible, but no words carried. For the best, even if the lack of information bugged him. Planning needed information. But he would wait.

Patience, his father had told him, way back when he'd been just starting at the Academy and still learning the rules of Go and Shogi, was the key to survival. Knowing when to speak up, and knowing when to just wait it out—that'd keep you alive so long as it was used in tandem with knowing when to _move_. When the time for patience was over.

Balance. He needed to find his balance.

It was easier, for some reason, now that they were standing out here and waiting for the go-ahead to move out. To get Ino.

Asuma-sensei looked up, his eyes dark thanks to the poor lighting. "Alright," he said, slow drawl replaced with something a lot more... professional. For the first time, Shikamaru could see where people might be scared of him. He was imposing. "This is what we've got to do, and how we're going to do it..."

--

It was a good plan, she thought approvingly, her fingers flying through the seals that would hook the exploding tags she'd plastered to this side of the foundation to the remote detonator in her hand. A quick spiral of chakra, up through her hands before knotting tightly around the two, connecting them firmly, barely a whisper on the senses, and it was set.

Yuugao moved on. Every ten feet, he'd said, the walls thick enough, on this side, to support such an amount of tags—they didn't have the heavy-duty ones, the ones that could blow up a bridge with only two tags—but these would be more than enough to get _everyone's_ attention.

Step one of the plan. Not their usual method of doing things—too much chance of the enemy using the commotion to flee—but then, this wasn't their usual sort of mission.

(As ANBU, though, not much could be considered usual.)

Finishing her side of the building, a handful of detonators in her hand and held carefully to avoid making any unnecessary noise, she skulked her way, silent and deadly, back to the meeting point. The rest of her team joined her shortly.

"Sarutobi's already inside, with the brats," she said, watching them nod as her watch ticked down the time. "He said he'd be at the door right about... now. We're to begin setting them off—cascade your explosions, don't do it all at once, in five, four, three, two—_one_." She snapped a detonator in half.

On the opposite side of the manor and explosion blasted through the air. Three more explosions followed it. Yuugao was smiling under her mask.

* * *

She was jerked from an uneasy sleep by the sudden _thump_ of an explosion. Blearily blinking her eyes, Ino tried to get a sense of what was going on, even while Megumi-san pushed her back down.

"Stay down," she murmured, "it's okay, Junko-chan. Just fireworks."

That was a lie, and a bad one that that, but Ino settled down, not moving but straining her ears to catch more of what was going on. More explosions, the _crump_ of them going off shaking the foundations and she watched worriedly as the ceiling shook.

"Those aren't fireworks, Onee-sama," she insisted, making her voice scared and small. Megumi-san's hand on her arm traced a quick 'good' out in signs. "What's going on? I'm scared!"

Ino wasn't, at least not so much, though it was unnerving to be stuck underground and hope that whomever was using explosives was keeping in mind the fact that there were people under here who really would rather not be crushed.

She huddled closer to Megumi-san, drawing their blanket tight around her shoulders and making a whimper that made 'Junko-chan' sound even more scared, but was really her reacting to the stiffness in her shoulders and back. "I'm scared, Onee-sama."

"It'll be okay," came the soothing answer, coupled with a hand that brushed her hair down as comfortingly as possible—at least in appearance. "It'll be fine. The walls will hold."

"Someone's fighting up there, aren't they?" she quavered, hating the fact that her character was so... so pathetic. _Obviously_ they were fighting up there.

Megumi-san hesitated, and Ino held her breath knowing it wasn't from her answer. She wanted to see if she could find anything, feel anything, but knew that keeping her chakra clamped down and out of notice was one of the things that had saved her skin so far. Ino didn't want to know more than she wanted to live. She could wait for an answer.

"I think so," she admitted reluctantly, face pale even in the dark, while her fingers tapped out the number seven on Ino's arm. "We'll be safe here."

Lies within lies. If there'd been only three, then she would've thought it was her team—daring a rescue, but seven? Ino clung to Megumi-san's hand, and rested her head against it. "I hope it's over soon."

That, at least, was the truth. The explosives going off over their heads was unnerving, and Ino had no desire to be buried in rubble. Not on her first B rank mission. Talk about embarrassing. And deathly.

"Onee-sa—"

Megumi-san raised her hand sharply. Ino shut up, and just stared the same direction as she was, trying to strain her ears to hear anything. More tags going off, the distant shouts of people.

"Ino-kun." Megumi-san's voice was cool, controlled, and resolute. "Our watchers have left the area."

She blinked. Her real name? "Onee-sama?" Ino didn't dare break her cover; not when she couldn't tell even how many watchers they'd had.

"We're getting out," Megumi-san said, forcing herself off the bed. "Quickly."

Ino's chin rose. "Your injuries first," she insisted.

Megumi-san paused, glancing at her, eyes assessing for a moment before nodding once. "As quickly as you can. Don't drain yourself--we might have to fight."

* * *

Sweat was beginning to sneak its way down the back of his shirt. Chouji paid it little mind though—his attention firmly on moving when Asuma-sensei said to, stopping when he gestured, and using Henge no Jutsu at a moment's notice.

Using it so often made it harder to remember—fingers wanting to grow clumsy, tired of following the same patterns—but he focused, and did it. Kamiya-san hadn't wanted them to do this part but Asuma-sensei had said it would be good practice.

It was more tiring than he'd thought it would be. Shikamaru just behind him, Chouji knew without looking that his eyes would be intent and deadly serious. No time for chips now, or cigarettes, or being lazy. Just the job.

The place, with the wooden flooring, and sliding doors was silent—most of the household asleep, and he was glad for that. It was one less that they had to worry about in-between jutsu, footsteps, and using chakra while keeping it suppressed. Multi-tasking.

"Here," Asuma-sensei murmured, voice low enough that it was a strain to hear the words. Chouji stopped, glancing at the door, and keeping up the Henge that said they were just part of the wall, don't notice them, nothing around but wall.

Down there was Ino. They were going down there. The distant _crump_ of an explosion was all the signal they needed for Asuma-sensei to open the door.

In they went.

--

It was a risk. But everything was a risk. Yuugao's explosions started going off, they'd continue at set intervals as the ANBU agents darted their way through the building to join them. Simple plans.

Asuma didn't _like_ it, but he was used to being on missions where he didn't like things. You got over whining really fast when you learnt out in the middle of a war, when your Jounin sensei was less sensei and more commander. That was when you learned that whining didn't matter.

Didn't mean he had to like the fact that his students—his almost painfully green students—were with him when there were at least three enemy Jounin and who knew how many Chuunin just down the stairs. _His_ sensei had never advocated keeping people out of the front lines though, so he'd brought them.

And would have to hope they were up to it. Teamwork would get them through it, that much he had confidence in. Few teams, even those with shinobi twice their age, had teamwork that came so smoothly together.

He went down first, that much at least he could do, and his kunai caught an Iwa-nin (lord, he hated Iwa-nin) in the eye. "Find them," he snapped, blocking a strike from another, "and get them out of here."

--

Easier by far to burst in and race through the building, the sprawling gardens, the well-kept halls, than to have snuck in, like a thief—like a _ninja_--and far less use of resources. The screaming, though, she could have done without.

Not that it kept her from detonating another blast as she darted around another corner. Her hair flying out behind her. The ceiling was the best place to run, no traffic, and in a panic, few people looked up before it was too late to really tell just what it was that had gone past them.

A few seconds was all they needed to get by. So far, few had been injured in the blasts—they'd planned that too. Civilians, well, no need to kill more of them than they had to. Bad for business. Another corner and Kouhei set of their next round. The blasts echoed through the building, loud but fading into background noise as they ran, following instructions that they'd been given by a mouse.

The door was right where they'd been told it would be. Corpses lay out on the stairs as they ran down the ceiling, dealing with the tilt in gravity with a simple bit of chakra smoothing the motion. Yuugao cracked another detonator in her hand, and flung herself off the ceiling, landing on the floor with her katana already out, and joining in the fray.

Blood flew.

--

All out battle, Chouji was quickly coming to realize, as he did a quick Kawarimi and got out of the way of an Iwa-nin with a rank higher than his, was different than one-on-one. Somehow that fact hadn't occurred to him before.

Or the fact that his family's jutsu were close to useless in the middle of a building—even worse, while they were in the basement. The only thing it would do would be to make him an easier target. Chouji dodged, using chakra to up his strength and smashed a punch into the stomach of a ninja too slow to get away from him.

He dropped like a stone. Chouji slit his throat. He didn't like it, but Asuma-sensei had been quite firm—they were to leave no enemy alive behind them. People only got their allies killed that way.

"Pay attention," Shikamaru snapped, as his friend caught a ninja Chouji hadn't noticed was ready to attack. Chouji grinned tightly, his kunai held tight, as he dispatched that ninja as well, letting Shikamaru reclaim his shadow just in time to use it to smash a ninja into the wall. Ow.

Blood was warm on his hands, but so far none of it was his. Teamwork. Right. They could do this. He just wished they hadn't had to.

* * *

Green chakra, pale like the first grass of spring, spilled from her hands, throwing her face into sharp relief and gave her light enough to see the injuries that Megumi-san had sustained. Sweat dripped down her face, down the middle of her back, as she worked. Ino didn't care—her world had narrowed down to the chakra she was using, the injuries, and keeping her concentration steady.

Distantly, she was aware that there were sounds of battle, but Ino forced it out of her mind. It didn't matter right this second, so she had to ignore it. She wasn't good enough to pay attention to anything else but the injuries right in front of her.

Her head was dizzy by the time she stopped pouring chakra, exactly the way that Shizune-sensei had shown her, into Megumi-san's injuries, watching as many of the smaller wounds disappeared entirely, and the deeper cuts closed, looking much better, but not entirely gone. The bruises were left mostly untouched, having decided that the cuts were more urgent to get rid of.

Ino let the flickering green glow around her hands fade, retaining just enough sense to run them over her knees, getting rid of some of the ache, before sinking back, lowering her head, and just _breathing_. Almost drained, she wasn't going to be able to do much more for Megumi-san in terms of healing.

A hand came to rest on her head. Ino leaned against it for a moment, before forcing herself up and away, getting labouriously to her feet, and biting back the whimper of pain her back let off. It did _not_ appreciate the abuse she'd been putting it through.

"How long have you been studying medical jutsu?" Megumi-san asked and Ino couldn't figure out what the tone she was using meant.

She struggled to get her thoughts in order. "A few months?" Ino said, leaning against the far wall and forcing herself to stretch out sore muscles. Chakra mostly gone or not, she was at least in better physical shape at the moment than Megumi-san.

Of course, Megumi-san was a Jounin, so that might be wrong. Ino didn't spare that thought another moment. Didn't have the time, needed to get as many of the kinks worked out as she could. Which wasn't many in all honesty. She needed sleep, a hot bath, and more chakra. Her head ached.

"Months," Megumi-san said getting up, a bit stiff and slowly, but looking as far as Ino could tell in the dim room—true dark was the tunnels they were facing next—as if she were moving easier. "You're a fast learner."

Ino flushed slightly. "Just simple cuts is about my level right about now," she said not sure what else there was to say to that. A slow learner just got people killed. She didn't want people dead. At least, not those on her side. "Sorry I can't do more."

"I'm glad for this much," Megumi-san said firmly. "Don't worry about it."

That made her feel a bit better, and she forced the matter out of her mind—they had more important things to worry about. "We need to get out of here," Ino said, watching Megumi-san check her body over. "Do we want to wait and see if it's a rescue, or just other people who're going after them too."

Megumi-san turned over that, looking like she was about to answer before stiffening, glancing at the door that kept them safe, and biting out an order.

"Get down!" she snapped as the door burst open, spilling light into the room, and completely ruining what vision they'd managed to get in the dark.

Ino flung herself to the ground, rolling to tuck herself into the smallest target possible. Her eyes watered as she tried to get a good view, but Megumi-san was moving so fast Ino could barely track her as the man came in, spotted her, and had just turned to look for Megumi-san—

When he fell to the ground, his neck snapped, and Megumi-san looking grimly pleased. "We'll have weapons at least," she said, kneeling next to the corpse and searching through his pouches.

Ino swallowed. "I could barely see you move," she said, getting to her feet. "And you're so injured still."

"Training lets you ignore pain," Megumi-san said, pulling out kunai, some wickedly curved shuriken, and even better, some bandages and the small pills that Ino knew were either chakra pills, or pain pills. "I'm normally faster."

They got ready, Megumi-taking more of the weapons than Ino did, and downing a few of the pain pills. While she did that, Ino knelt by the tunnel, prying the opening wide with her fingertips.

"Take these," Megumi-san said, forcing two little round pills into her hand. "Dry swallow, we don't have water. That's our tunnel, is it?"

Behind them, the door was still open. Ino did what she was told, there was no time for arguing. "Oh," she said, sounding revolted after swallowing against the bitter metallic taste, "let's not do that again. Yeah, we're going down. Do you think you can get the opening shut when you go down?"

Extra bit of precaution. Anything helped.

"I'll deal with the panel," Megumi-san said, shooing her on. "Go, the long we're here, the longer we're in danger." And they weren't up for a real fight.

Ino dropped into the tunnel, wincing as she jarred her knees, and moved forward a few feet before twisting her head to peer back as Megumi-san sealed them into the dark. She was starting to really hate the dark. Taking a deep breath, Ino made herself stop thinking about anything but the route they'd have to take. It was her memory, after all, that was needed now.

They moved out.

Behind her, the sounds of battle, friend-or-foe, she didn't know, were fading as they put distance between them and the room they'd been held. Megumi-san was breathing in short pants, and Ino glanced over her shoulder, frowning. Her hands ached, her knees ached, it'd get a lot worse before it got better, and they had to keep going. There was no time to stop.

They couldn't risk someone following after them. They had to move. But she didn't like that Megumi-san was already so injured, speed was of the essence, and so she paused.

"Do you want me to see if I can patch you up a bit more?" she asked, a bit diffidently.

"No," Megumi-san said with a shake of her head that Ino felt more than saw. "Save your chakra, I'll make it as I am."

She nodded, torn between wanting to help more, and being glad that she didn't have to try in the pitch dark of the tunnels. "Yes, Onee-sama."

"Good," Megumi-san said, and they kept moving, crawling through the tunnel, and let the darkness swallow them.

* * *

Blood dripped from his knuckles, his breathing was slightly fast, but nothing to worry about, and Asuma was feeling a good bit better than he had been for the last few days.

Nothing like violence as stress relief. Dodging a Katon jutsu—what the hell kind of idiot played with fire inside a building?—Asuma took care of that by kneeing the other shinobi in the gut and then breaking his nose and shoving the bone shards into the man's brain.

It was a painful death.

Shikamaru was dealing with one on a set of stairs, his shadow locking the higher ranked man in place while Chouji broke the shinobi's neck. Efficient. Not as fast as they could be, but he was glad to see that their teamwork was back to its usual high standard. He didn't have the time to worry about them, not in the middle of battle.

"Watch out," Yuugao told him, her mask firmly in place, as she skewered a kunoichi who'd been behind him. "Your kids are fine. It'd be embarrassing if you weren't."

He barked a laugh at that. "I've been taking care of myself longer than you have." That was all the time he had to speak before his world narrowed down to enemies, allies, and getting rid of people who were doing their best to kill him while he did _his_ best to kill them back.

Bloody game, and no one was keeping score. He got separated from the rest, letting Dai squeak little directions in his ears in-between braining another shinobi, and the ever important need to dodge—no sign of Yakushi, he noted, probably fled the area—and as he followed the instructions of a mouse (some days, it just wasn't worth trying to make things sound less weird) there was less fighting for him to do.

Good. It meant that between the ANBU and his team they'd been dragging most of the shinobi down here out of position and away from the girls. Down another flight of stairs—how many floors did this basement have? He'd counted three levels so far—and he paused upon finding an open door half way down the hall.

A sandaled foot was sticking out the open door—the door that Dai had sworn had the girls in it, and Asuma picked up his pace, swearing—they hadn't been armed, if there'd been more of them, then—

The man, an Iwa-nin from his hitae-ite, was the only one in the room. He gripped the door frame with one hand, surveying the place. The corpse had been very neatly and thoroughly scavenged from.

A grin touched his lips. It meant that they were still thinking. And that at least one of them was able and willing to use weapons still. Asuma knelt, noticing the absence of painkillers—at least one of them was injured then—and soldier pills.

Armed and dangerous. Sounded good to him. Asuma glanced back at the door, down the hall, and listened to the sounds of fighting. He didn't want to get trapped in this room. Staying here then wasn't an option.

He wasn't bad at tracking, but he wasn't the best at it either, better at brute force solutions and thinking himself out of a tight spot. Lucky for him (and Ino and Kotone) he had someone with him who _was_ good at tracking.

"Dai," he murmured to the mouse who'd taken refuge in his shirt when the fighting had started. "Can you find which way the girls went?"

There was a good bit of squirming as the little mouse wriggled out of his shirt, landing on the floor with a little plop and shaking his head as he scurried through the room, scenting the air. "They're both hurt," Dai reported after a moment. "There's two types of blood in the air, and I recognize Kotone's."

Asuma wasn't smiling now. Killing intent rode the air like the calm before the storm. He'd hoped that Ino would be left alone, that her youth would protect her long enough for them to get her out without having to deal with any of the darker side of being captured. She was so green.

"Go on," he said, wrestling his temper under control. It would help no one if he lost his temper.

It was several minutes, time that Asuma spent further inspecting the corpse—recent, not yet having hit rigor mortis, and the neck had been broken cleanly, it had to be Megumi's handiwork—before Dai spoke up near the far wall.

"They went out through here," the mouse squeaked. Asuma glanced at the wall; it looked like any other, but underneath the underneath was a basic tenant for a _reason_. He found the panel in a few minutes, helped out by Dai's nose.

He tried moving it. It stayed shut.

Asuma frowned at the wall thoughtfully, probing with his chakra at it and finding a twinge that felt a lot like Konoha-based work. "Megumi's got this door trapped nine ways to hell, doesn't she?" It made him feel a bit better to know she was still capable of doing work like that. Always a good sign.

Peace had made him slow too. Of course she would. "We need to catch them where the tunnel opens up," he said, lifting the mouse up and setting him on his shoulder. "Can you, once we get outside, follow their trail."

Dai considered that thoughtfully. "Chakra-signatures," he said slowly, "Kotone-sama's is muted but present, I should be able to follow it."

"Good, ca--" he started, cutting off the rest of his sentence when Shikamaru and Chouji arrived at the door. They were bloodied, but a quick glance told him that their injuries were nothing serious.

"Where is she?" Shikamaru asked, taking in the room with a glance. Chouji's face was no less anxious.

"They pulled their own escape stunt," Asuma said, feeling relief flood through him. "We're getting out of here, leave the clean up to the nice ANBU, and go see if we can catch them before they collapse." He hated to dim their smiles, but couldn't keep this information from them. "Both of them are hurt, so be careful when we find them—depending on how bad it is, they might not recognize you as an ally at first."

Both of them nodded. Asuma shoved them out the door as Dai scrambled into his shirt again. He was almost getting used to that sensation.

"Clever girls."

* * *

Please review!


	16. Chapter 11: Breathe I

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 11 Breathe (Part I)  
Author: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 10 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk! (And I'll try not to take so long with the next chapter.)

* * *

Tunnels, Ino thought as she forced herself to keep moving, to keep thinking, and ignore the pressing rock and dirt around her—and even then, it was harder now, listening to Megumi-san struggle more than she was, at least Ino was smaller and knew where they were going—were going to be _banned_ if she had anything to say about it.

Maybe she'd write up a recommendation to Hokage-sama. It was something to think about while every inch forward they gained bit and tore at her hands, her knees, made her back and shoulders ache fiercely.

Knowing, too, that Megumi-san had it worse off than she did. That thought floated through her head, more than once, before coming to rest near the front of all her considerations—just behind the furious determination to remember exactly where they were in relation to the exit, and straining her ears for any sound of pursuit.

That she hadn't heard anything over the sound of their breathing, the shift and slide of gravel and dirt under and over them as they moved through the dark, mattered not. If there was a tracker, if they happened to be better Megumi-san and her (not that that was hard with their current condition), then they were in trouble so deep she didn't know if they could get out.

She turned right, making sure that Megumi-san knew to turn there, and made herself keep going. If they stopped, if she stopped, she wasn't sure if she would be able to start back up again. Everything hurt; she was exhausted and so low on chakra that even with the soldier pill Megumi-san had made her take her energy was barely enough to use Kawarimi, let alone anything more strenuous.

Kawarimi no Jutsu was hardly going to be of any use while underground and sightless. She didn't think it'd be even good for switching Megumi-san and her around in case of an attack. Ino shook her head, grimacing at the bits of dirt that scattered around her, hitting her face and landing on her hands.

Megumi-san paused behind her, the lack of noise following her was the biggest tip she had for knowing. Cursing the dark, she nonetheless glanced over her shoulder. Nothing, of course, could be seen. It was just a movement of habit. "On—" she paused, swallowed, and tried again. "Onee-sama, are you alright?"

Ragged breathing was her only answer for a few moments. "I'll be fine," Megumi-san managed, sounding pained. "We can't stay here, there's nothing to help anything down here. I just... need a few minutes."

"We can wait," she said, nodding with confidence she didn't feel, though no one could see it. "I don't think anyone has been tracking us." Not, her tired mind added, that she'd be able to tell. All Ino knew was it was dark, everything hurt, and so far no one had tried to kill them. Which was enough for her.

Time passed slowly in the dark. So slowly that the few minutes Megumi-san had asked for felt more like hours, even though what was left of her internal clock told her it wasn't nearly so long. It was hard to breathe, just from the pressure of her thoughts, and Ino was blinking back tears—she just wanted to go _home_—by the time Megumi-san whispered she was ready to go again.

They moved on. Inch by careful inch Ino led them through the tunnels that she'd memorized, doing her best to ignore the fact that, between heavy weight of the dirt and stone pressing down and around them and Megumi-san's ragged breathing, she was starting to feel a bit claustrophobic.

Ino made herself breathe evenly, in and out, nice and deep as they kept going. Dirt and rock ate into her hands, her knees, and Ino knew she was bleeding but there was nothing to be done but bite down on the whimpers of pain and keep going. _Just keep going._

It was a ragged litany in her head and she welcomed it. The words gave her something to focus on, something to think about other than how many ways their escape could do dreadfully wrong. Squinting into the dark, even though it was useless, her eyes couldn't see anything no matter how hard she tried, Ino murmured soft encouragement to Megumi-san.

Somehow, she doubted that she'd be the only one with a hatred for tunnels after this.

Time passed, slow or fast she couldn't tell, but ever so slowly, just like before, the tunnels started lightening up. From pitch black, the darkest nights with no moon shading into grey scale as they moved. That was one good thing; the speed meant that their eyes had more than enough time to adjust to the slight increases in light.

"Not long now," she said in a whisper that went no further than Megumi-san and Ino wasn't just saying that as encouragement. She'd been this way before, the path was familiar, and just around that turn the ground sloped upwards towards the hole she'd spent time widening.

Ino wasn't sure, but she thought she'd heard Megumi-san mutter something along the lines of 'thank goodness' under her breath. It wasn't important, so Ino didn't stop to see if she was right. After all, this tunnel, with its oppressive darkness was something she wanted badly to escape as well.

"And up," Ino said, mostly to herself, before scrambling out of the tunnel, her knees, hips, her arms from hands to shoulders screaming in pain that made her bite her lip for fear of gasping and giving their position away. She made it, blinking back tears, and forced herself to her feet even as Megumi-san started her way out of the tunnel.

Falling over sounded _amazing_ right now. Sleeping for _forever_. Steeling her will—she'd come this far, she could go a bit further—Ino stumbled away from the tunnel enough to turn and offer her bloody and ripped hands to aid Megumi-san in getting free.

Megumi-san, her body having taken the tunnel worse than Ino, in addition to all the half-healed injuries that had been inflicted on her in the name of torture, stumbled to the ground, landing with a hiss of pain on her knees.

"Just a little further," Ino said encouragingly, even as her hands made their opinion of her mistreatment abundantly clear, though they obeyed her stiffly and she helped Megumi-san to her feet. "Onee-san, we're almost free." At least now they could breathe air that wasn't half dust.

Small victories. Another five minutes and they slowly were heading off in the direction of the town. At least it was still in the pre-dawn, the sleepy period before the sun broke over the horizon—people would be less likely to notice their bloody hands and knees and general disarray once they made it to the town. Ino fussed with her bathing yukata—of all the things to have to get captured in, and make an escape in, it had had to be that?—but her hands hurt too much to do more good than bad and she was tired, so tired.

They hadn't made it more than twelve meters before three people appeared in her vision. Ino tried to focus on them, something was familiar about them, but even struggling she couldn't remember more than that about them. Just that she was in pain, that Megumi-san was worse off, and her hands went for the kunai that they'd taken off the man they'd left dead back in their cell.

"That's enough of that," the tallest one said, sounding—approving, bemused, relieved?—and before Ino could do more than get the kunai up in a guard position he was there, inside her space. The kunai in her hands fell, and she stumbled back, making sure to keep Megumi-san behind her.

"Good job, Ino," he said, and she could smell cigarette smoke. "We'll take over from here."

Ino never even felt the press of fingers that knocked her unconscious. Darkness swallowed her, but she felt safe. _Good job_.

* * *

Shikamaru caught Ino's dirty, bloody—his stomach twisted into a knot, seeing the blood on her arms, on her legs—body before she hit the ground. "She tried to attack you," he said blankly. "Ino pulled a kunai on you."

"You going to do the same, Amaya-san?" Asuma-sensei asked, rather than answering the question. "Might take more effort to put you out the same way."

Amaya-san, looking every inch as ragged and beat up as Ino was, only worse, managed to find a crooked smile from somewhere. "Don't be too hard on her," she said, "she did a lot of work. More than I thought she would, when she's just a Genin. I won't bite, but I'm not going to be able to make it on my own."

"That's what we're here for," Asuma-sensei said, as Chouji moved forward to take Amaya-san's weight, lifting her with ease. It made sense, Shikamaru thought, as he settled Ino so she'd be slightly more comfortable, and stood with her in his arms—if they were attacked, all the better to have their Jounin be the one with free hands. "One rescue team, at your service."

Saying that earned Asuma-sensei a pained laugh from Amaya-san. "Some rescue team," she said, "when we managed to get out without your help." She frowned slightly. "Though you were the ones that gave us the distraction needed," she conceded, "so well done that. We were trying to figure out how to get rid of our watchers."

Asuma-sensei cracked a bit of a grin. "You'd have managed," he said, "but you didn't have to, which is even better. Come on, Shikamaru, Chouji. Back to the hotel, on the double."

On the double, in this case, as they made their way back, wasn't nearly as fast as it sounded—they had to make sure that no one saw them who wasn't supposed to and for their part, making sure that Ino—who was still completely out of it—and Amaya-san—who'd fallen asleep not five minutes into the trip back—didn't get jostled too much in the process.

Shikamaru, in-between wondering if Ino lived off of air, somehow, which was nonsense because he knew she ate, but she was so _light_ anyway, edged forward so he could talk to Asuma-sensei. It was safe enough, as long as they kept a watch out.

"Why did she try to attack you?" he asked, keeping his voice pitched so it wouldn't carry far.

"She didn't know it was me," Asuma-sensei said, after a moment, glancing down at Ino. "Not after everything else. Ino was working on instinct and one of the last things she'd probably remembered was that they couldn't be caught by anyone, and that the hotel was a safe spot. Which made me the enemy."

Shikamaru considered that, comparing and contrasting it to what he'd picked up in lessons at the Academy—even sleeping so often he'd managed to learn the information—and frowned slightly. "Would she have reacted better to me or Chouji?"

"I don't know," Asuma-sensei told him, ducking under a branch and holding it so it didn't touch Ino. "I doubt she'd know either, if you were thinking of asking her. When you're like that, you're not in a place where you can decide what you remember and how you react. She'd set herself a mission—and that was all she had room, and energy, left for in her mind. It was nothing personal."

That sounded reasonable enough, he decided, silent now as they slipped into Aomori proper as the first streaks of dawn kissed the sky with red, pink, and gold. Ino had never attacked anyone on a mission without a good reason before.

Just this time, he didn't understand her reason as well as he had before. He hadn't been there, hadn't seen what all had gone on in the cell—that dank little cell, pitch blank without windows or even vents for air circulation—which had to have put a distance between his understanding and her actions, right?

Right. Shikamaru glanced at Chouji to see how he was managing with the heavier Amaya-san, and was glad to see that Asuma-sensei had chosen right—after all, Chouji seemed to be handling it with little stress.

They hurried now, feet silent on the roads, and making sure to duck out of sight of anyone they saw who was awake at this early hour. It was getting more and more difficult to keep moving; it was dawn, the workers, shopkeepers, and others were starting to rouse.

As they reached the hotel, Asuma-sensei's hands flashed through the seals of a henge, and Shikamaru wasn't startled as the illusion fell around him and Chouji. "You're all hidden from sight," Asuma-sensei said in a quick murmur as he got the door open so they could enter the hotel. "Be careful not to let anyone bump you—it won't hold up to much."

It wouldn't have to, fortunately, the innkeeper's daughter, still bleary-eyed with sleep, gave Asuma-sensei a glance complete with a wrinkled nose—no doubt assuming that he'd stayed out all night dallying—and utterly ignored everything else.

Taking the steps was a bit harder, Ino's slight weight was still a burden, and he'd been carrying her for well over an hour now. Behind him, he could hear Chouji steadily following him, and refrained from commenting. Luck was with them though as they didn't encounter anyone on the stairs—most likely because most of the patrons were still abed and liable to stay that way for a few hours—and Asuma-sensei got the door open as they approached it.

The beds were full, but that didn't matter for the moment, the floor would do when both of the girls were out and staying that way. Shikamaru was glad to find that Ino's injuries were mostly superficial, even though there was enough dirt and grit in them to chance a serious infection.

He was also, he admitted wryly, glad she was unconscious for this—otherwise he doubted she'd have stayed quiet.

Eventually, all they could do is let them sleep, and wait for them to wake up.

* * *

A tea shop, even one so nice as the one she was in, wasn't exactly the best place for studying, but Sakura had been feeling too confined at either the hospital, or Ino's room, and had taken herself out of both of them before she snapped and went completely around the bend.

These days it felt like the flowershop, Ino's room, and the hospital were all she saw when she wasn't out on missions. The tea shop was a welcome change as she read through a textbook detailing the medicinal properties of rare plants.

It was one of the few textbooks she was _allowed_ to study out in the open, so even though Sakura would have rathered been studying the jutsu Tsunade-taichou had shown her, she knew better than that.

Confidentiality was important, after all.

When the bells on the door to the shop chimed with the entrance of someone, she glanced sideways—hearing, in her head, the memory of Tsunade-taichou lecturing her on the weakness she displayed by picking up a habit, but as of yet, she hadn't been able to check intent of chakra without a sideways glance--long enough to determine that the chakra signature was friendly, and went back to her text.

She blinked down at her leg when, a moment later, there was the soft click of paws and Akamaru giving her what had to be the world's quietest yip. Some part of her melted, because that was beyond adorable.

"Hey there," she said, leaning down to try and pet him, while glancing around for Kiba. Where one went the other followed, and she doubted that Akamaru would ever be in a tea shop without Kiba. Though, admittedly, the opposite was possible. Vaguely.

Sakura didn't think she'd ever seen Kiba without Akamaru other than in Academy classes where animals, with the exception of Shino's bugs, had been forbidden.

Her worries about Akamaru not letting her pet him were unfounded as the dog leaned eagerly into her hand, tail wagging furiously. "Hello to you too," she said, smiling at Akamaru.

Kiba's familiar laugh made her glance up and over at him as he walked towards her. "There you are! I had Akamaru find you, he likes you," he said. "Thinks he's got a chance at being spoiled by you."

She grinned a bit ruefully at that information. "Should have figured, I guess," with a look back down at Akamaru, "it was a good try though. Sit down, if you're staying." That last was directed at the both of them.

To her amusement, both of them sat. Kiba leaned back in his chair, setting his drink down along with some sort of sticky pastry before slumping a bit to get more comfortable, while Akamaru settled himself close to the side of her chair. That earned another laugh from Kiba.

"Hope springs eternal, Akamaru?"

That made her laugh, and she was somewhat surprised to realize that she hadn't for awhile. Marking her place in the text with a fabric bookmark, she closed it and set it to one side. It would be rude not to pay attention after she'd invited them to sit.

"What've you been up to?" she asked, sipping at her tea.

He didn't so much sip, as toss half of his drink back, for his sake Sakura hoped it wasn't a hot drink, before launching into a discussion of what sort of training he'd been doing, and what Team 8 had been getting up to. She listened, asking questions in places, and then it wasn't all that long before he was asking _her_ questions about what she'd been getting up to and when she tried to skim over her medical training—in the months she'd been doing it, Sakura had found that most people didn't _really_ want the details of what she was working on—he'd interrupt her and ask for clarification.

But when he started asking for details, and showing a decent grasp of some of the concepts she was talking about, Sakura started elaborating. Not on the seals, not that, but on what she'd been covering and how much work it was, how much use she could be out in the field right now.

At one point, and they'd been talking for over an hour, and her tea had just been refilled while he was absently playing with his, she asked him how he knew all of that.

Kiba just shrugged. "Hana's a veterinarian," he said. "You pick up things when helping her out. Animals aren't the same as humans, but it's similar enough."

And she just laughed again, because it was true enough, and she had seen Hana around the hospital several times now. Sakura had just never thought that he'd consider learning anything about it.

He looked at her like she was crazy when she commented about that. "Akamaru's part of the family," he said, and she heard, rather than saw, Akamaru wagging his tail, "I've got to know how to take care of him."

Didn't that apply to his teammates too, Sakura asked, and they were off again, going through the pros and cons of learning medical jutsu and how much time and effort it could be expected to use.

There were good reasons for both, and when Kiba argued that if everybody went all medical-ninja then they'd lose a lot of their skill in more offensive moves and that would open Konoha more to attack, she countered with the fact that since, in that case, more of their ninja would be able to heal their companions that the fatality rate would actually go down rather than up.

It wasn't until they'd left the tea shop, after noticing the looks they were getting from the hostesses for being there for hours and getting nothing but refills, and were walking down one of the market streets, still lightly arguing the reasons for learning, or not learning, medical jutsu that Sakura remembered that he'd apparently been looking for her.

She hugged her textbook to her chest as they kept talking, and it wasn't for another half an hour that she found a lull in the conversation to ask him about that.

To her surprise he flushed a bit. "Wanted to know if you could meditate," he mumbled.

Sakura pretended she didn't notice his sudden distraction. "I'm okay at it," she admitted, "not spectacular or anything, but Ino taught me a few years ago to help concentrate better and ignore those who were bothering me. Did you want me to show you how?"

"Know the basics," he said, and they kept walking, "would you mind giving me a few pointers? I can't stay in it for very long."

She was busy, she had a million and one things to study, but Sakura was smiling as she promised that she would, and that really, truly, she didn't mind at all.

And she didn't. Especially not when he promised that he'd show her a few simple jutsu Hana had taught him to help make sure that Akamaru stayed healthy out in the field.

Give and take. And somewhere in the middle of ordering dinner at one of the ramen stands, Sakura realized that she'd missed this sort of easy conversation with a friend. Friends, really, she amended, leaning over to pet Akamaru.

It was nice.

* * *

Eight at night and Inoichi was sprawled out on one of the benches lining one of the nicer parks in Konoha, ankles crossed and to all accounts looked perfectly at ease. The fact that the bench, made of stone that was slightly chilly due to the time of the year, placed him firmly in the middle of Chouza's route home was no coincidence.

For the moment, though, he was just sitting, leaning against the low wall behind the bench, and eyeing the sky with a knowing gaze. More rain was coming. Well, it figured. Winter was never a dry season, and he was only glad that they didn't get the wet, sticky snows.

Not that snow was really on his mind. Too many other things held that position and fact that he'd been re-called into ANBU, drafted really, was one of them. The other was a quiet half-worry for his daughter—her first B rank mission _ever_ and Inoichi hoped it went well, and that she was safe—it didn't much matter to him that no ninja was really safe, not while on active duty. Just that he hoped she was.

ANBU though was his problem. A rather large problem, and he hadn't yet told Mui, though Inoichi was sure she'd figured out that something was up with the way he was acting. Retired from the field didn't make a difference in how much she noticed, and he was going to have to tell her soon.

He _really_ wasn't looking forward to that conversation. Mui had made her opinion of ANBU quite clear back when she'd first found his tattoo, and made him swear he wouldn't go back to it. Back then, he hadn't planned to. The idea that his Hokage might one day call him back had been an acknowledged, but very vague possibility, and he'd promptly dismissed it to dive headfirst into the life he had now.

Inoichi sighed, shifting so he could stretch his legs a bit more, and scanned the crowd casually. Chouza was hard to miss, Akimichi generally were once they passed puberty, and he couldn't see him yet. Ah well, he'd been a bit early. Avoiding Mui was, in and of itself, a bit of an art form and while he hadn't had to do it for a good while, Inoichi was quickly rediscovering old skills.

And hating it. She deserved better than that, but he hadn't yet found the words to tell her—not when, already, she was so worried about their daughter being gone. The length of time wasn't extraordinary—there were C rank missions, even the odd D rank mission, that were longer—but B was the first of the really potentially dangerous set, and Ino was just a Genin.

A clever, talented, and hard working Genin, he conceded, with more than a touch of pride. But none of that changed the fact that the likelihood of danger finding her was more than it had ever been before. No parent, he thought, would be able to face that fact without worrying. His eyes picked out the large form of his friend, his teammate, and Inoichi raised one hand. "Oi, Chouza!"

Subtle? Not really. But it managed to get his attention. Chouza made his way over to the bench, and glanced down at him. "Having a lazy day?" he asked.

"I wish," he said, waving for his friend to take a seat, shifting over just a bit. "But lazy days are ones that don't bring home money, and Mui gets cranky if I do it too often." As he spoke, his hand drifted idly to tap his shoulder, the one with the spiral.

ANBU wasn't known for having many lazy days either. Chouza knew what he meant; Inoichi could see it in his eyes.

"She's a tough one; temperamental," Chouza rumbled, more amused to the casual eye than anything else, and sitting with a sigh that was, Inoichi knew, entirely heartfelt. "Especially when it comes to things like that."

Inoichi laughed—it was easy enough to fake. "Why do you think I don't admit it to her? I know that."

"And yet, _again_." The sigh that got was heavier than the next.

"Watch your back about it."

"Know that too," he said, "and I only hope Mui doesn't figure I do."

"She'll be fine," Chouza told him to Inoichi's relief. "Tough, remember? And she's not the only one who is tough."

"I'd have to be," Inoichi answered very dryly. "Thanks for the vote of confidence though. I'll remember this."

* * *

When the door to Yamanaka Flowers opened up, five minutes before closing, the last person Sakura expected to see as she chirped out her standard greeting (and hoped that it wasn't _another_ old woman who thought the flowers were the wrong shade of pink), was her mother.

Haruno Sayako stepped inside, and if any of the movement was hesitant then Sakura couldn't tell past the sudden pounding in of her heart. Her mother looked a bit tired, but every step she took was done with her usual grace and poise. Sakura had no idea what her mother wanted, couldn't think of any reason for her to be here except for one—and that one reason fluttered painfully through her mind before she forced it away. No, she would not let dreams and hopes rule this… whatever this was.

Cold comfort, but all the comfort she could find, was the fact that at least she could guess how her mother had found her. There were only a few places that she'd have gone after leaving home, after all. Ino's place was on the top of that short list. She'd considered getting a room at a hotel, or even breaking into Naruto's place to sleep there—he wasn't around, and she doubted he'd mind if she wrote and asked him if she could—but that night, when she'd made her choice, Sakura had gone for her oldest friend. Ino was her shield, had been since they'd been very young.

"Sakura." Her mother was speaking and Sakura struggled to stop her thoughts from flying around in her head enough so she could reply. Green eyes that were a match for hers studied her. "You look well."

Sakura didn't know how to answer that. She swallowed, smoothed down her apron and made herself stop fidgeting. Whatever this was, Sakura doubted it could be good. Since leaving home, on a cold rainy night, and crashing at Ino's place she hadn't once spoken to her mother. "Mother," she said evenly, "you look well too."

It was easy enough, after all, for a ninja—even one so green as she was—to avoid a civilian when actively trying. Sakura had been trying. Had it not been that she'd sworn to do her duty, repay back the kindness of the Yamanaka, she would have been out the door in an instant.

"Am I still your mother then?" Sayako asked, sounding almost sad, and Sakura's uneasiness soared. "What sort of child then does that make you?"

"One that gives everything she's got for fulfilling her dreams," Sakura said, sliding her hands behind her to grip the counter-top. "A child that parents should be proud of."

Yamanaka Mui had said so. In bits and pieces as the days had gone by and nothing had shown any sign of changing, Ino's mother had started telling her things. Little bits of her life, and why she did what she did, and what was to be learned from it. Sakura had listened, then, not fully understanding, but the words were another weapon to ward off hurt.

She _was_ doing what she wanted to do.

Her mother stared at her as if she'd never seen Sakura before—it hurt; they were so similar in looks, but so dissimilar down where it counted on this issue that Sakura thought that she might have been speaking in code for all the comprehension that showed on her mother's face. Her stomach twisted uncomfortably, and her hands tightened further.

She had to calm down. Sakura made herself take a deep breath, one then two, and waited for an answer. Surely there was one coming? Why else would her mother have come to see her, having had to deliberately track her down?

"You're so cold," Sayako whispered finally. "You mean what you say, don't you?"

She wasn't cold, didn't know what cold was, not when anger-sorrow-fear mixed inside her thoughts and kept her almost too warm to bear. "The only lies I have ever told you are ones of omission," Sakura said, reigning in her temper with skill of long practice—look one way, think another, and do it until it's second nature; Suzume-sensei had taught her that—and raised her chin. "I've never been any different."

Watching her mother draw in a shaky breath, like she'd had the world stolen from her, made Sakura's eyes prick with tears. She held them back and stood her ground. She _would_ do this. Just because her mother didn't agree with her didn't mean that she was wrong. It was a tentative idea, mostly clung to with the simple fact that Sakura really deeply believed that what she was doing, what she wanted to do, was right and there was no other path she wanted to take as much.

"The only lies I've told you," she repeated, "are ones of omission—the ones that every shinobi born of civilian parents knows to tell or they face interrogation for unlawful passing on of secrets not theirs to tell."

"You never used to be like this," Sayako cried, her voice starting to rise, "you used to come home cheerfully and always smile and now I look at you and find that I don't know this cold eyed stranger! I want my daughter back!"

"I'm _right here!_" Sakura insisted. "You just don't want to see me! This is _who I am_, Mother! It's not going to change, and I don't want it to! I like who I am—this is who I want to be." Stronger, she wanted to be stronger, but in the basics this was exactly who she wanted to be. She was getting stronger, more useful; day by day she was making her way to her goals. "This is what I want to do for life! I've always wanted to do this—you just didn't want to see, and now you've got to. I'm _not sorry!_ It's my life, not yours!"

"My daughter wouldn't dare—" Sayako began, voice shrilly.

Sakura cut her off, "Your daughter _does_—"

_Slam!_ Sakura jumped, startled as the door behind her, the one leading from the shop into the house proper, was slammed shut.

"What," Yamanaka Mui said, her blue eyes, paler than both Ino's and Ino's father ever looked, were icy as a cool winter day and her voice not much warmer, "is going on here?"

* * *

Years of training meant that, even injured, even wounded, the pause between sleeping and full wakefulness was a mere second—barely more than a blink of her eyes, and Kotone went from the dark world of dreams and healing sleep to being aware of the fact that she was on a bed, that it was warm, and that going from the pattern of the carpet they'd been brought to the hotel room that Asuma and his boys had been using as a base of operations.

Her breathing didn't hitch, didn't change at all from the slow and steady rhythm it held in sleep. Kotone knew better than to force herself to deal with too much stimuli at once, not after a mission that had gone the way this one had.

If they were in the hotel room, there was time enough for her to take it slow. As much, admittedly, as she ever took it slow. It was enough for the next few minutes to do nothing but breathe and take in the scent of sharp medication, of lavender scented sheets--which, Kotone thought, was rather a shame because no doubt no one in the rooms had appreciated them even though it was a nice touch--the soft rise and fall of footsteps, of breathing, of the shift and flex of fishnet reinforced with metal (otherwise, what was the point?) and murmured conversation.

Carefully, Kotone began picking out the voices, identifying them as ones she knew, and trying to pin down the conversation. Simple enough, she thought, something about food and what to get.

Near a meal time then. That narrowed it to three times, and the odds were that, if she was awake, it wasn't breakfast. Not unless she'd slept longer than Kotone had guessed her wounded body would.

That left lunch, or dinner. Shifting casually, as if still in the grip of sleep, Kotone let out a sigh. Her injuries had been taken care of--the healing that Ino-kun had done was supported now by someone else's chakra signature--and bandages made their presence known all along her torso, hands, and knees.

Almost a comfort, really, to know that it was safe enough to do that. Kotone blinked open her eyes and said, "There's been no sign of pursuit then?"

Silence fell, heavily, over the room much like a thick woolen cloak over the shoulders on a chill winter day. Kotone carefully pushed herself up, making her body--though it still ached and moaned--sit upright, shoving her unbound hair out of her eyes.

Sarutobi handed her a glass of water, a bit of a smirk touching his face and the answer to why was clear enough; his students both looked shocked. Kotone hoped that would be turned into a lesson. It was a good one to know.

"No signs of pursuit," said Yuuta, wearing the ANBU uniform, but without the heavy white vest. "The whole residence has bottled up tighter than a virgin."

Kotone sipped her water. "Ino-kun?"

"Asleep in the next room," Sarutobi replied. "She's got two ANBU sitting watch on her, since these two here are heading out for food right away." The emphasis he put on the last two words turned his explanation into an order.

Stifling her amusement, weak as it was, as Sarutobi got rid of his boys for at least half an hour, Kotone was glad to hear that Ino-kun was well protected and presumably doing well if the only comment on her health was about the fact that she was sleeping.

Once it was just the four of them—Sarutobi, Yuuta, and a Special Jounin in ANBU who she thought was called Kamiya—Kotone straightened up further as they turned to her.

"I already know you're going to ask how we got caught," she said, her voice dry. "Plain and simple, I'm not sure yet. They went after Ino-kun first."

Sarutobi stiffened, fingers reaching for a cigarette, and they settled in to try to figure out what had happened and how much of underneath the underneath they were to explain to Sarutobi's team about what had really been going on during the mission.

Little details, big ones, it didn't matter—all of it had to be accounted for.

* * *

Light filtered through her barely cracked open eyes, and Ino whimpered when the fact that there _was_ light seeped into her consciousness. The second thing she noticed, besides being parched, and that the lights were on way too high—and she hadn't even opened her eyes yet!—was the fact that the sheets she was on were clean, and while she still ached, things didn't hurt nearly as much.

She fuzzily tried to remember what had happened, her world had narrowed down in the tunnel to nothing but getting out, getting safe, and making sure that Megumi-san made it too. Vaguely she remembered getting out of the tunnel and then, and then...

Her eyes flew open, registering a ceiling that was far too plain to have distinguishing marks to her dismay, and she struggled to sit up, nearly toppling over when she put her weight down on the palm of one of her hands. They were neatly bandaged and her hair—still brown, but slowly lightening—was clean. Someone moved, the soft rustle of fabric against fabric and footsteps that seemed deliberately loud. She struggled to right herself, and hands gently helped her up, taking hold of her making sure she didn't fall. She flinched at the contact.

"Calm down," Shikamaru's familiar voice cut through what was slowly rising panic, one hand that she now recognized was his, resting on her back—she was in a nightgown of some sort, and puzzled over that while he talked to her soothingly. "It's alright, we've got you and Megumi-san secured. We're at the hotel."

She nodded to show she was listening, letting his voice just drone on, and was glad at he didn't seem to expect any real sort of response from her while she tried to get her head on straight. Ino was clean, her hands were neatly tied off and bandaged, each digit wrapped separately, and done with care to the details, a shift of her legs told her that the same was true of her knees, the pain in her back was mostly gone, her shoulders still twinged, when she shrugged them to get a feel for the pain.

But she was... warm. Clean, and safe. It was Shikamaru who was sitting with her on the bed, still talking and he rarely talked so much—

"Shut up," Ino ordered, leaning into him, feeling the warmth of his body against her shoulder and back, and closed her eyes.

"Not supposed to," he murmured, sounding relieved. Shikamaru shifted slightly, tugging her blanket a bit tighter around her. "Asuma-sensei's orders. Not 'til you start acting like yourself and bossing people around."

Ino wrinkled her nose, eyes opening slightly, and had he not been at her back, not been the one holding her up, keeping her safe, she might have tried to hit him—for old time's sake. "I gave you an order," she pointed out, which was in her opinion perfectly reasonable. "So you should follow it and Asuma-sensei can be happy 'cause I ordered you around."

"I think," he said, tucking a bit of hair away from one of her ears while Ino gave a sleepy protest at him touching her hair. "That Asuma-sensei expects more bossiness from you than just telling someone to shut up."

"Too much effort," she mumbled, eyes drifting shut again. It was alright, she didn't have to worry about the mission any more. "Just want to sleep."

"No sleeping," Shikamaru's voice was firm on that, and he jostled her enough that Ino forced her eyes open to glare at him. "You've been sleeping for a few days already. Getting you something to eat, and maybe moving around is more important."

Ino made a face at that. She so didn't want to eat anything right now—the thought of it made her stomach roll—and moving seemed like a wishful dream when he was helping her sit up. What she said though, knowing that her thoughts would probably be unappreciated, was, "You've got to be kidding."

Okay. Maybe that was going to be unappreciated too, but it was less words and expressed her opinion perfectly. He was just going to have to deal.

"Not kidding," he said, and she frowned up at him because he didn't sound nearly as annoyed as he was supposed to. "It's orders."

"Asuma-sensei can stuff his orders," she muttered, fingering the blanket wrapped around her and seeing how well her fingers responded to her demands. Not bad, stiff and sore still, but not bad—just as long as she didn't have to do any jutsu in a hurry. "I need gloves."

It was a thought progression that likely made no sense to anyone but her. She could feel Shikamaru blinking down at her as he adjusted to the sudden derailment of their topic. "What?"

"Gloves," she said, wriggling her fingers in their neat white bandages at him. "So this doesn't happen again. "Maybe start wearing them all the time. I could probably get a pair that would work okay with my other bandages."

"I'm sure you can," and Ino squinted because that sounded a bit like he was trying not to laugh, "but you wouldn't have had them with you anyway, remember? You were undercover."

"I make a very good little sister," Ino informed him, settling herself against him so she was more comfortable. To her mild surprise, he allowed it without more than a roll of his eyes. "Onee-san would agree with me, I did everything like I was supposed to."

She frowned. "But we still got caught."

"You're not thinking about that now," Shikamaru told her firmly. "Not when you're jumping topics worse than a five year old. Think about your gloves. What colour do you think you'd get them in? Purple?"

Ino thought she heard him mutter something about not believing he'd actually asked that, and decided to ignore it—after all, it was a good question. "Maybe," she said, studying her bandaged hands. "But it'd have to be really dark purple, so that it didn't give me away really quick. But I'd have the fingers cut off so I could still move my hands fast enough to make seals. Practical fashion."

"Very practical," he agreed, looking at the door. She looked too, but saw just a boring old door. "Asuma-sensei is coming. Do you think you'll be up to giving a report?"

Trying not to sulk at the fact that she couldn't tell at all that someone was coming—her chakra was too low for that, and she wasn't able to focus properly anyway. That was okay though, she was warm, and safe, and would get better.

Doing her level best to elbow him, and getting a grunt of pain in return, Ino fixed her eyes on the door. "I'm a kunoichi," she informed him, like he should already know, as the door opened and Asuma-sensei and Chouji came in, "and I can do anything."

* * *

"Quit watching me," Ino snapped as she fussed with her hair. Another twenty-four hours had done a great deal for restoring her energy. "It's _weird_. I'm not going to break, you know—"

Shikamaru leaned against the door frame and shook his head. "I know," he said, and his tone of voice made her frown slightly, even as she tied off one of the little braids. "But Asuma-sensei said that you're still not at one hundred percent."

She twitched. It was true, much as she hated to admit it, but – "I still don't need a nursemaid."

"Do I _look_ like a nursemaid?" he shot back, sounding indignant.

"No," Ino said, brushing past him and stalking down the stairs to where Asuma-sensei, Amaya-san, and Chouji were waiting. "You're missing the skirt."

"Why would Shikamaru need a skirt?" Chouji asked, even as Shikamaru spluttered denials while he came down.

Ino shrugged, slipping over to get her bag from Asuma-sensei. "'Cause he's a nursemaid, obviously. Skirts are required."

"They are not," Shikamaru said, as Chouji laughed and Asuma-sensei chuckled, "since I'm not a nursemaid."

"Then can you _please_ quit acting like one. I know I'm not entirely well, after feeling under the weather for a few days, okay? I'll say something if I can't keep up." Under the weather was a good way of saying exactly what she wanted to say without having any of the civilians around them the wiser.

Double speak. It made her grin at Amaya-san. "Onee-san," she said, "have we forgotten anything?"

Amaya-san's smile said that she didn't mind the fact that Ino continued to address her in that manner. "We're good to go," she said, ruffling Ino's hair much to her dismay. "I think everything's been taken care of? Sarutobi-san?"

"Two seconds," Asuma-sensei said, letting Chouji and Shikamaru continue to argue amicably about nursemaids and skirts being required, while Ino rested her eyes and leaned against the couch tiredly.

Several days rested or not, she was still not even _that_ great, all her protestations to Shikamaru beside the fact. All the same though--going home was something she was willing to push herself for. What was a little more pushing in the face of everything she'd already done? She could go a little further.

"How're you feeling, Junko-chan?" Amaya-san said, resting one hand carefully on her forehead.

"I'll be alright," she said, opening her eyes and watching to see if Shikamaru was paying attention to her right that moment (he wasn't, she was glad of that) before glancing up at the other kunoichi. "Just a bit tired still."

As well as sore and stiff. Only time would get rid of that, and careful stretching had helped work out most of the kinks in her body enough to be able to move so that people didn't see that anything was the matter with her at all. "I promise I'll say something if I think I can't keep going," Ino said truthfully.

Amaya-san's eyes pierced into hers steadily, before the other woman sighed. "See that you do," was the response, "as I'd hate to have to explain anything more than everything that already happened."

Asuma-sensei came back, "We're checked out," he said, fingers already digging for a cigarette, "so let's get out of here, shall we?"

None of them we're going to argue about that. They left the hotel, falling into easy formation: Amaya-san at the front, Asuma-sensei behind them, and (much to Ino's dismay) she was in-between Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Don't complain," Chouji said softly, noting her furrowed brow and stormy gaze. "We're only following orders."

Of course he was following orders. She'd follow orders too, but that didn't mean she wasn't going to complain about them. It wasn't like they expected anything else from her, right? Though maybe that meant she ought to act differently?

Ino considered that, as she followed them down the street, making sure that she didn't break their casual looking formation, and had to admit that the idea had merit--it would no doubt discomfit them more, going along cheerfully with everything, than if she put up her usual fuss and sigh route (even if she, personally, thought the fuss and sigh way of doing things was more than worth the effort it took)--but it wasn't what she was good at, not really... Sakura was better at the whole smile and lie thing, when it came to things that didn't concern missions.

Which was backwards from her, she remembered Suzume-sensei comparing the two of them and sighing about that. But then, Ino figured, she had to have been getting better at it lately, right? She'd managed, for the first time ever, to keep information about what she was doing from them for months.

Improvement indeed. With that in mind Ino, rather than retort sharply, gave Chouji a brilliant smile.

Chouji, to her delight, looked rather discomfited by that.

"I know," Ino said, and really, she did know. After all, it had been on orders that she'd managed so much, and they were trained for years and years to follow orders. To the point that, should a Jounin sensei order his Genin to do something that they shouldn't, and they obeyed him, it was the Jounin sensei who would be in trouble.

Shinobi needed to think, yes of course, but they also needed to know that orders had to be followed under most circumstances.

Not that any of it meant they had to like their orders, just that they had to do them. Protesting and asking questions was encouraged, unless right out in the middle of a battle. "I know that," she repeated, still smiling. "But I don't have to like it—I'm not that weak."

"We don't think you're weak," Chouji said, with long patience and she suspected he'd expected some form of this conversation to happen. "Just that you haven't had enough time to recover entirely—we have _eyes_, Ino. We can tell when you're pushing yourself."

She made a face at that. Ugh. Ino didn't want to be that transparent.

"Can't you guys just _trust me_ to know when to ask for help?" she asked, that coming out rather more plaintively than she would have liked it to.

"Not while we're under orders," he told her, though his smile was a bit rueful. "But otherwise, I don't think you'll have a problem with that."

That _did_ make her feel a bit better as they approached Aomori's gates and slowed down. As they'd entered, they would leave the same way. No need to do anything else, not when most of the shinobi that had been hired by the Daimyo were dead, and sometimes it was sneakier to go out the front door, like you owned the place, than anything else.

"When we get home," she said abruptly, "I've got to talk to you."

He glanced at her curiously, took in the set of her jaw and displeased eyes. "Alright," Chouji said, "let's go home then."

* * *

Please review!


	17. Chapter 11: Breathe II

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 11 Breathe (Part I)  
Author: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 10 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk! Sorry for the wait!

* * *

Mui's eyes narrowed as she took in the scene, her question echoing in the sudden silence. She noted the way that Sakura was white and gripping the counter like it was a lifeline, she studied the way that Sayako was livid and in tears.

"I repeat," she said slowly, in the ominous voice that she'd learnt worked best for prying answers out of both her daughter and her husband—if it worked on the both of them, both Yamanaka to the bone, then it would work on these two. "What is going on here?"

There was nothing gentle about her question. It fell into the heavy air and Mui could feel the tension crackling.

No answer, still, was forthcoming.

That wouldn't do at all. Her lips thinned and Mui almost elegantly brushed a strand of hair away from her face as she considered her options. She had many things to say, few of them kindnesses, and it was looking as if the two in front of her—both pink haired, both girls, both with personalities that were powerful for all that they hide behind smiles—that she felt a pang of regret that these two were so fundamentally different.

In ways that were not particularly compatible for a shinobi and a civilian. Some issues could be worked around, worked through, even put aside. Mui studied them, and wondered if they'd be able to manage it. Or if they'd wind up going her route.

Mui knew what it was like to be in Sakura's place—she fully sympathized with her. Age and experience, however, had left her with a better understanding of how Sayako was likely to feel. Understanding translated into compassion. It didn't grant forgiveness or approval though.

"Sakura-chan," she said, stepping into the growing awkward silence. "Please leave. I wish to speak to your mother alone."

Sakura spun to stare at her, eyes wide. "Yamanaka-san, I—"

"That's enough," Mui said, her voice brooking no argument in this. "There are some things that your mother needs to hear, and you do not need to be present for it."

Indeed, having someone here who reminded her so much of her own teenaged self—not in looks, or in personality, but purely because of the situational basis that was so painfully similar to the one that had opened the rift so wide between Mui and her own mother that Ino had never even met her grandmother—would only hurt the situation more than it would help.

The talk she had in mind was not one for a girl just starting out on the path to independence and Mui had no wish to inspire Sakura to change her mind about her own life. Not at this point. Not when, in Mui's estimation, the girl was doing fine enough on her own. Of course, children should have parents, but the fact remained that once they hit a certain age, they did not really need them.

That age just came younger for shinobi children. Sakura was, in the eyes of the village, an adult now. Mui would do her the honour of treating her like one most of the time. Right now, however, no.

"Please," Sakura said, "not right now, not here—I don't want to cause trouble—"

"You," she said, laying slight emphasis on that word, "have not caused me trouble. You are a valuable employee, and my daughter's best friend. It is no lie when I assure you that it is no trouble at all caring for you."

Sayako looked slightly apprehensive when Mui turned to face her.

"On the other hand," she continued, "you, Haruno-san, have come into my shop, upset my employee, necessitated the early closing of my business, and upset _me_." Mui wondered if Sayako even realized that she'd taken a step back. It was a bit gratifying, even if it wasn't useful at the moment.

"Please," Sakura said, looking up at her. "Don't do this right now—for me, please."

"It will happen," Mui said, almost gently. "I've put it off before now because you were left alone."

True enough. She was no monster to rake up pain and stir the pot of other peoples' pain for the sake of it. As long as Sayako had been content to simmer and stew in the mess of her own devising then Mui had been well enough with trying to gently and carefully talk to Sakura about those same issues.

Only a little at a time—it had to be done carefully, too much would make things worse, too little would mean that things never changed at all. Mui was confident that she'd been dealing fairly well with the situation.

Sakura swallowed and stared at her with cool green eyes—calculating that, assessing it. "I know," she said finally. "But please, don't do it here."

It would cost her nothing to relent now. Mui sighed and slipped on arm around Sakura comfortingly. "Go," she told Sayako. "Out of my shop, and don't come back unless you require flowers."

The look she got for that from Sayako said quite clearly that if the other woman needed flowers, that it would not be from here that she'd obtain them. It was balanced, though, by the look of relief that Sakura wore, and Mui did not miss the fact that the self-same relief flickered in Sayako's eyes.

Coward, Mui thought contemptuously, turning away. You will yell at your daughter, but not at the one who shields her from your rage? Pick your battles, and make the ones that you do engage in count. It was a basic tenant of shinobi training, and Mui was sure that she'd gained more out of this than Sayako.

Little victories, after all, built up. And she had time enough to make this young kunoichi into someone that anyone would be proud of. "Come, Sakura," she said, "we've got clean up to do, and then we're going out for dinner, I think. We could use the treat."

The anger radiated at her back was worth the almost shy, pleased smile that Sakura gave her. Everything had a balance.

Behind them, the door slammed shut.

* * *

Shikamaru had watched silently as Ino struggled and did her best to keep pace with them all, and said nothing about slowing the team down or anything like that. He could tell, now that he was watching, that from the set of her jaw and the fire in her eyes that, if he said anything along those lines, he'd be instigating a major fight.

He didn't want to fight with her—not right now. He wasn't sure what, exactly, he wanted to do, but Shikamaru found himself content enough to just watch.

Of course, even as tired as she was, it was the second break of the day—Asuma-sensei claiming that it was only break time because Megumi needed the additional time to rest. The half-smile the brown haired woman had given their sensei spoke louder than words that she knew it wasn't exactly for her, but it meant that Ino gave in with only minimal fuss—when Shikamaru found his gaze suddenly staring into bright blue eyes.

"You're staring," Ino informed him, handing him a rations bar.

He took it automatically, unwrapping the soft, silent wrapper and biting into the crumbly bar—eugh, cinnamon apple—as he considered how to answer that. While he chewed, Ino settled down next to him, a tired sigh escaping her as she eased her body down.

"What if I am?" he said, tone idle as she fussed with her own rations bar. Strawberry, he noticed. Of course she'd claimed the better tasting one. Somehow, that made a smile tug at his lips.

"I still think you should wear a skirt," she told him pertly. "I'm keeping up, aren't I?"

"You are," he agreed, talking another bit of his bar. It was dry, and he reached for his canteen as Ino nibbled on her bar.

She swallowed. "Then why the staring?"

"Maybe I just like staring at you," he said flippantly, putting a sarcastic spin to his voice so she wouldn't take him seriously. What was really so wrong with him keeping an eye on his teammate?

Especially the one who was only a few days out of captivity. Who haunted his nightmares. Who was a—_girl_. You idiot, he thought, she's always been a girl.

"No way," Ino said, laughing and tilting her head back to soak in what little sun there was. "I thought I'm troublesome?"

"That's why you need staring at," he said dryly, butterflies in his stomach, but glad enough that she wasn't taking him seriously. "Can't be left alone, should be kept away from sharp objects, needs to be kept entertained..."

Ino shoved his shoulder, rolling her eyes. She was, he noted, smiling though. "As if you even could manage that," she scoffed, "no _way_."

"Then you're just going to have to deal with the staring." He shrugged and took another bite of the rations bar.

She made a face at him. "Don't help me unless I ask for it," Ino ordered. "I'm doing fine."

"You always say that," he said, because that was true. Shikamaru couldn't remember the last time that Ino had actually asked for their help—either she was fine alone, or she took their help as something that was so often there that it was to be taken for granted.

"Maybe I'm always fine then," Ino insisted, fiddling with her bar.

"Even when caught by enemy shinobi?" he asked pointedly. "_Eat_. You weight hardly anything."

Her eyes darkened, and she silently chewed on her bar for a few minutes. "That's why you're staring at me?" Ino asked finally, picking at the wrapper and not looking at him. "Because the mission screwed up?"

Shikamaru watched her for a moment then sighed. "I was worried."

"I can take care of myself—"

He grabbed her arm, resisting the urge to shake her. She was so _annoying_ sometimes. This was obvious. "You can," he said flatly as she made a half-hearted attempt to get free of him. "And I was still worried."

Ino studied him for a few seconds then looked away. "I still don't need a nursemaid."

"How about a teammate?" He was picking his words with a lot of care—the last thing he needed was her exploding at him over something that, if he was thinking, he certainly wasn't planning to say. He didn't need her reading insults into his comments when there were none to be found.

Shikamaru had been doing a lot of thinking in the few days that Ino had been asleep, and there'd been little to do but think, buy food for the other shinobi, and patrol carefully as they sought to avoid drawing attention to the fact that there even were Konoha nin in the village while the rest of the townspeople reacted to the news of the explosions, the deaths, and the excitement with a fury akin to that of a kicked hornet's nest.

She swung around to stare at him. "You're already my teammate."

"Don't you think," he said carefully, "that teammates are allowed to worry about each other? When, for instance, one of them is in the hands of the enemy."

Ino's eyes narrowed as she thought, absently giving her hand another tug to see if she could free it. This time, he let her go, trusting that she wasn't going to get up and storm off anywhere. While she thought, he finished his ration bar, sipped at his canteen and offered it to her.

She took the canteen, toying with it as she thought, and Shikamaru leaned back to study the sky. It was a fairly decent day, he decided, with the clouds scudding overhead, that half shade of grey that spoke of the chance of rain, but the sun peeking through the gaps said that it wasn't going to happen here and now.

Good enough, he thought, and good enough that this was going okay. He was tired of fighting this argument and losing because he couldn't put his finger on why he didn't like it so much.

Besides, it would make her happy, winning now.

"True," she eventually conceded, sipping from his canteen. "But if you try and tell me that everything you've worried about was 'cause of that I'll dump this on you."

"I'm not," he replied, getting up and snagging her wrapper. "But in this case, that's what it was."

Sort of. He wasn't exactly sure.

She studied him intently. "Alright," Ino said, "I can deal with that."

* * *

Running home, even at what was _really_ not her best, Ino found was made easier by the simple fact that they were going home. She'd be able to have blonde hair again, and her weapons.

Ino definitely wanted her weapons, all things considered.

At the same time, she had to admit that she was deeply pleased with herself—she would have had to be blind not to notice the fact that Asuma-sensei was happy with her, that Amaya-san was pleased, that the ANBU man—Yuuta, she thought, but he'd left before she'd gotten to know for sure—hadn't looked at her like she was a girl that could do nothing but mess up.

That didn't mean she wanted to do it again, not right away, at least, but there were worse outcomes to missions that had gone so badly out of shape as this one had and Ino was finding that she had no complaints about how the mission had turned out.

Even if it did mean that she needed to talk to Chouji. Like, soon. Ino made a face at that. True, she probably should've talked to him about what else she was learning sometime before all of this, but there hadn't been the time...

That was an excuse. Ino scowled at that. She shouldn't be making excuses.

Excuses were childish, and Ino very much didn't want to be childish--she didn't feel like she should be, not after the mission she'd just done, and narrowed her eyes in thought. Yes, of course she'd have to talk to Chouji, and apologize.

Making a face at that though, Ino hated apologizing, she nonetheless promised herself that she'd get on with it and not just keep putting it off. It made no sense now, definitely not now, for her to keep her silence on what she was learning (and it had been Shikamaru anyway who'd she'd originally not wanted to know, Chouji only having been lumped into the not-knowing group because she couldn't trust him not to tell...).

Ino stumbled slightly, a rock knocking her precarious balance out of whack and she was worried for a second that she'd go down--oh, how embarrassing, not up to full speed or not, she was a Genin and that was just pathetic--before she was caught on both sides by hands that held her upright and let her keep going without a fall. Chouji and Shikamaru.

"Thanks," she said, fighting the urge to retort that she'd have been fine on her own. They let her go once she was steady again, and Shikamaru rolled his eyes, while Chouji just gave her a smile. That was enough. They were a team--they didn't need more words than that for something so simple as a stumble.

Despite that, her cheeks were warm with embarrassment. Stumbling over a rock was not the way to prove that she could take care of herself. It was--

"Don't worry about it," Amaya-san said, moving up to keep pace with her easily. "You didn't go down, and you're not up to your best yet. There is no shame in not being able to do as well as you can ordinarily in that circumstance."

Easy for her to say, Ino thought, and some of her opinion must have shown on her face for Amaya-san laughed. I bet she never tripped over rocks just because she was tired earlier than she ought to be.

"I know what you're thinking, Ino-kun," Amaya-san teased, easily keeping the pace despite the fact that her injuries had been far greater than Ino's. Ino felt a flash of pure envy. "And you'll see, everyone falls behind sometimes."

Her eyes narrowed slightly at that. "I'm not falling behind," she said, stung. "I won't ever fall behind."

If she did that, now, then all those months of effort were for hardly anything. That wasn't the truth, Ino knew that intellectually, but emotionally, she would consider it a complete failure in her attempts to improve herself. What was the point of improvement if she just fell behind _again_? Maybe being totally awesome was going to be a long, up-hill climb, but she didn't want to be spending time sliding back down to the bottom. No matter what Ino wanted to keep moving forward.

"I'm not," she repeated, forcing her attention onto the ground, checking for anything that might trip her up again—that would be beyond embarrassing, wouldn't it, if she fell while she was busy insisting that she was just as good as the rest of them.

Amaya-san rested a steady gaze on her. Despite herself, Ino found that a slow flush was spreading over her cheeks.

"You're young," Amaya-san said lightly. "Do you think you'll really never fall to the bottom again? Because I assure you that people older and wiser than you are have had to start all over again from the very bottom."

Ino fought the urge to scowl. "I just got _out_ of the bottom," she said, still mostly focused on the ground in front of her. Ino hated to admit it but she couldn't afford the distraction at the moment. She didn't dare lose track of what she was doing and even that was still taking a bit more effort than it should've been. "Why would I want to consider being shoved back down again?"

"Because it's better to think of it now," came the swift answer, "and know about the odds of it happening, than to be taken completely off guard and have to deal with the crushing surprise on top of everything else, don't you think?"

Ino mulled over that. "I still don't—I mean, I know I'm not the best, but there's nothing wrong with taking a bit of pride in what I've accomplished already..."

Amaya-san laughed. "I didn't mean that at all. You have every right to be proud of how far you've come—and in so short a time!—I just want to make sure that you know that there will always be someone better. You're a very talented girl, Ino-kun. Don't forget that. But also don't forget that the shinobi world is filled with people who are greatly talented."

"I'll keep it in mind," Ino said, making a face at her. "Even if that's a seriously depressing world-view, don't you think? I mean, it's one thing to know it on the field—if you don't, you underestimate your enemy and that's a bad thing—but, I don't know, I don't think there's any harm in being a little bit prideful."

That only earned her a smile. "Just remember," Amaya-san said as the gates to Konoha came into view. "As you go up through the ranks, the line between on the field and off of it narrows."

* * *

She'd finished giving her report, Amaya-san had ruffled her hair and said that they'd maybe see each other around, Shikamaru and Chouji had disappeared to get some sleep and Ino had promised Asuma-sensei that she'd go and do the same right after she checked in with Shizune-sensei.

After all, it was probably a good idea to let her know that she was back in the first place, rather than have her learn it from someone else. Ino stretched, feeling the pull and tug of her muscles as they still ached and stifled the urge to yawn.

Really, she probably could have gone straight to bed, but Ino figured that this was better—and it gave her time to cool down from the run that had left her so exhausted. Entering the hospital was like entering a whole different world.

Waving at the nurses who were busy with clipboards, or on their breaks, Ino went straight for the front desk. "Is Shizune-sensei in today?" she asked the pretty brunette who was sitting there and going through paperwork while her darker haired partner was dealing with another client about some kind of bill.

"She should be up on the fourth floor," the woman said, after a quick glance at one of the clipboards. "She doesn't have any surgeries until this evening."

"Thank you," Ino replied, and was waved off. She knew that the only reason she'd gotten through so quickly was because she was a recognized face around here. Not just anyone could show up in Konoha's hospital, ask for Shizune-sensei, and actually get her whereabouts.

Ino smiled as she walked through the doors that only the staff were supposed to use, and offered those she saw easy greetings as they noticed her. The halls were so clean they all but sparkled—Tsunade-sama was firm about the hygiene of the hospital—and the scent of anti-septic, and the most powerful cleaners was almost over-whelming after weeks of not having been around them.

In a way, that was a good thing, it meant she'd be less likely to miss something out of the ordinary if her sense of smell stayed good, but at the moment it was more of an encumbrance than anything else.

As she approached Shizune-sensei's office, Ino tilted her head. She could hear voices coming from the open door, and made her steps soft and light.

"Alright, we'll do it that way then," Shizune-sensei said to someone, as Ino peeked her head around the door and found that not only was Shizune-sensei present, but Hokage-sama was as well. Her eyes widened and she was about to pull her head back—though no doubt they already knew good and well that she was around, honestly, chakra suppressed or not, she didn't have the training to lie to the Hokage, and Shizune-sensei knew the feel of her chakra inside and out.

"Ino-kun," Shizune-sensei said, giving her a smile. "Come in."

"Yes, sensei," she said, stepping in and bowing to Tsunade-sama and her. "Hokage-sama."

"Yamanaka-kun." Hokage-sama nodded at her, and glanced at Shizune-sensei.

Ino did too since she wasn't entirely sure what was going on here. "Did I interrupt anything?" she asked, a bit diffidently. It wasn't how she normally dealt with people, but Hokage-sama was right there.

"Nothing important," Hokage-sama said, giving her an intent glance. Ino resisted the urge to fidget and took the chair that was nodded to. "It's nice to see you're back and looking well."

"Yes, Hokage-sama."

"I presume you've finished your verbal and written reports to the Chuunin already?" Hokage-sama said, as Shizune-sensei got up and shut the door. Ino couldn't help following Shizune-sensei with her eyes and wondering at what exactly was to be expected of her now.

"Yes, Hokage-sama," she said again, as that was both true and hopefully the answer she was supposed to have given. She doubted that Hokage-sama would care to hear if she _hadn't_ already accomplished something, so Ino was glad she had.

Ino watched out of the corner of her eyes as Shizune-sensei made tea with an electric kettle. To all appearances, her sensei looked to be in fine form.

"Good," Tsunade-sama said, leaning back in her chair, her generous bosom shifting as she moved. "Report, Genin. I'll read your formal one later."

"Right here?" Ino said, blinking in surprise even as a weak weary part of her wept at the thought of having to go through the whole situation all over again and so soon. She should've, Ino thought ruefully, just gone straight home and gotten some sleep. Next time, she resolved, that's exactly what she'd do.

Though it probably wasn't.

"Yes, Yamanaka-kun," Hokage-sama said as Shizune-sensei set her tea down in front of her, and then put one by Ino took the last for herself. "Report."

There was no way that she could refuse an order like that. Ino cast a dubious glance at Shizune-sensei, who looked mildly interested at the proceedings, and took a moment to organize her tired thoughts before launching into a report that would, hopefully, satisfy the Hokage.

Ino did her best to keep the details straight, to stress when she didn't know something directly, what exactly Amaya-san had done, what she'd done, the fact that they'd gotten caught and still weren't sure how, the way that they'd dealt with the imprisonment, their escape.

Through it all, the Hokage watched her with thoughtful eyes, and Ino did her utmost to keep the urge to wipe her palms on her skirt down, even if it would have made her feel better it was most unprofessional, as she stuck to the details. Sometimes Hokage-sama would stop her, make her go back and elaborate on things, and at those times Ino's face burned with embarrassment, because it was far worse missing something in front of her than it was back when they'd done practise reports for Iruka-sensei back in the Academy, or when Asuma-sensei decided he actually wanted to hear their reports.

Mostly, she suspected, so he could mock them. It bore evidence of that, at least.

Eventually she wound down, surprised to see that her tea was gone, her throat was dry, and she was so very glad that Hokage-sama hadn't needed her to stand during the recital of the mission.

Ino was so tired of reporting the mission. She settled into her chair anxiously and waited to see what Hokage-sama had to say.

When she spoke, the approval was clear: "Well done, Yamanaka-kun."

* * *

The afternoon shone bright and clear and cool. Not cold enough to send people inside for the day—not when there was sun shining, not in the winter when most of what they had to look forward to was rain—but chill enough that Mui was wearing one of her heavier sweaters and glad for the warmth of her thick skirt and the tea she had was so hot that steam wafted off of it in steady tendrils. The chair she sat on was pleasingly wrought metal with a cushion to keep comfortable and prevent her from getting cold.

Had it been a usual day, she wouldn't have been out here. Mui had too many things to do to simply come and spend the middle of the day doing nothing more than sipping tea, but it had been arranged that she and Haruno Sayako would meet here and discuss things.

The only reason Mui had relented enough for that compromise (one that she was of the opinion that Sakura's mother ill-deserved) was that Sakura had protested so vehemently, and looked so ill-at-ease that Mui had given in.

She'd not missed the look of relief on Haruno Sayako's face either.

All of which was what found her, in the middle of the work day, and having left her shop (no matter what Inoichi said, it was hers more than his in her mind, and that was alright with the both of them—it was _theirs_) in Sakura's hands, and Mui was sitting at the outside café she'd chosen and wondering idly if she'd been stood up.

She flexed her fingers, and sipped her tea. Fifteen minutes late. So far, it was not unreasonably to simply assume that Sakura's mother had been held up by some issue at her place of work—Sakura had mentioned that they were tailors.

Another fifteen then, that was what she would wait until she'd leave her seat at the café, and go out and about finding Sakura's errant mother herself. Sometimes, the direct approach worked best, however dismaying it would undoubtedly prove for Haruno Sayako if that was the case.

Though not on active duty, and quite honestly not capable of handling the physical demands of active duty, Mui thought herself (with good reason, having been a Chuunin before her injuries made that impossible) more than capable of finding one pink haired civilian who badly needed a talking to about her daughter.

Tapping her fingernails against the warm porcelain of her tea cup, Mui's eyes narrowed ever so slightly. A very desperately required talking to. She was only glad that Sakura had discovered earlier than she herself had that sometimes, sometimes, you couldn't stay.

And that sometimes, other people knew what they were about. On the subject of parents who did not want their daughter to be a ninja, Mui felt herself more than adequately equipped to deal with that—and she could only hope it would turn out better for Sakura than it had for herself. Her parents, after all, were still not talking to her, even after so many years had gone by.

Mui shook her head, glad that her hair pins kept her hair from flying about her face, and forced her thoughts away from that. Unnecessary thoughts would only be a hindrance.

All too quickly, and yet at the same time, too slowly, the extra fifteen minutes of grace that Mui had mentally granted to Haruno Sayako. As the time was up, she summoned the bill with one hand, waited to all appearances patiently as the server brought it to her and then made her change.

She left a nice tip and a friendly smile—after all, people remembered when business people did that, and her shop could always use a few more customers—before heading out. Her steps were smooth, even, and unhurried. Mui would not put so much stress on her weakened legs by forcing them to rush. Walking was no difficulty, but running or anything out of the ordinary would only serve to exhaust her.

This was no emergency, she could take her time. Inoichi wasn't expecting her home for supper and she had more than enough on her to get dinner at a nice place. Maybe she'd see if Misato wanted to come out with her after she was done talking to Haruno...

With that happy thought to occupy her Mui eased her way down the street that their shop was on. A quick inquiry told her that Haruno hadn't felt well that day and had taken the time off. That she was ill.

Really, Mui thought, as she headed instead for Sakura-chan's house, that was a poor lie. Even for a civilian.

When she reached Sakura-chan's home, Mui rapped on the door once, twice and then paused listening. The sounds of an argument reached her ears, but the words were too indistinct to make out. It was only the tone that let her know what was going on.

A faint smile graced her lips. She knocked again. This time, a man opened the door. He was handsome enough for a civilian and she recognized the line of his jaw and the curve of his eyebrows from Sakura-chan.

"Haruno-san," she said pleasantly—after all, Sakura-chan had said that her father wasn't the cause of any of this. "My name is Yamanaka Mui. I've come to speak to your wife."

He winced slightly, but let her in. "She's not really ill," he murmured as he fetched her a pair of slippers meant for guests. "I'm sorry you had to come here. I've been trying to talk her around."

"That's quite alright," she assured him. "It may go better with less people around."

Mui watched, amused, as he winced again. "Can I get you anything to drink?" he asked instead while leading her down a hallway.

As he did, she took in her surroundings after an absent 'no thank you' to his offer. It was a nice house—the furniture was of good quality though not new and showed signs of being lived in. The walls were painted appealingly and the air was lightly scented with lavender. Nothing too frilly, but the way everything was so carefully cared for spoke volumes for how much work they spent on the house.

Haruno Sayako was in the living room, her face pale but stubbornly set.

"My," Mui said, so innocent that butter wouldn't melt in her mouth. "Your clerk seems to be mistaken, Haruno-san. She was under the impression that you felt unwell?"

Behind her, Sakura-chan's father shook his head and sighed. "No hitting," he said, and quietly shut the door behind him. "I'm heading to the shop."

"We'll be devastatingly polite," she assured him, settling a flinty gaze on Sakura-chan's mother. "After all," Mui continued smoothly, "we're both _adults_ here."

Haruno Sayako blanched.

* * *

As she left the hospital, worn from a solid few hours of steady reporting and still basking in the glow of Hokage-sama's approval, the sky was turning red with the approach of sunset. Ino lingered at one of the bridges to watch it for a few minutes, just leaning. Absently she waved to Tenten and her team as they passed by—apparently for training, as Tenten looked resigned, Neji impassive, and Lee was rambling something about power.

Ino stifled a laugh and watched them go before turning her attention back to the gorgeous sunset that they were getting today. After another ten minutes or so Ino sighed and continued the trip home. It was nice, walking the streets with her hair half way back to it's usual colour, her injuries only a bit stiff, and that was something that stretching and practise would get rid of. This close to the evening, the streets were fairly crowded, but Ino was in no rush and didn't feel like heading up to the rooftops.

By the time she got home she was utterly wiped and yet in an almost serene mood, the walk through the village having rendered her calm. (Though her exhaustion probably helped, Ino admitted.) She cut around to the back of their store, making sure that her chakra wasn't suppressed—though it was so low that, really, would it would make hardly a difference if she hadn't, and yawned.

Somehow all of that seemed less important as she stepped inside her house and saw her dad cutting up vegetables for a stir-fry. Ino leaned wearily against the door frame and grinned a bit. He had on a pink apron her mother had bought him as a joke, and was singing, mostly in tune, along with the radio.

"I'm home," she said, when the song was over, a grin spreading over her face as he finished the song triumphantly. 'I'm home' was all that she needed to say. His head snapped up, and he took in her appearance for a split second before she found herself lifted straight off the ground, caught up in a hug.

Ino flung her arms around his neck and buried her face against him.

He laughed, his voice warm and Ino knew she was home and safe. She pulled back long enough to grin at him. "Did you feel me coming at all?"

Ruffling her hair, he laughed again. "I was a bit distracted," he said, setting her down and giving her another once over. "And you're exhausted. _Sit_. Are you hungry?"

"Starved," she admitted, wrinkling her nose as his ushered her to a chair and grabbed her a glass of juice before she could even say she didn't really _want_ a glass of juice. Ino sipped the drink anyway. "I don't want to look at a rations bar for at least another few days." Even if she'd made sure to get the ones she didn't mind _too_ much.

"You'll get used to feeling like that," he said, ruffling her hair again and pulling a strand out to inspect the fading colour. "Brunette, huh? You're better as a blonde."

She grinned up at him. "It's easier to go darker than lighter though, so I was the one that had to change. I'm just glad it's going away now."

"They never do like blond hair," he sighed, moving over to the stove to toss vegetables in with the chicken for the stir-fry. "Blue, sure. Green, no problem. But blond? Never. It's always 'too distinctive'."

"Wonder how they'd react to pink hair," she said thoughtfully, then looked around. "Where is Sakura anyway? And mom?"

"Your mother, the light of my life, is out catching up with a friend," her father replied, after a second. "Sakura-chan's still at training. Hokage-sama's got her doing Taijutsu this week so she'll be wiped when she gets back."

"Mmmm," was really all Ino had to say in response to that. The smell of good food cooking was slowly filling the kitchen and only reminding her that she definitely wanted to eat. "You busy tomorrow, Dad?"

He glanced over his shoulder at her as he got utensils out of the drawer and neatly set two places—one of them right in front of her—and the look on his face said quite clearly that any attempt to get up and help would be met with refusal. Ino didn't bother to try then, just giving him a smile. "Why, princess, do I suspect I am now?"

"Because you want to spend the day training with me," she said promptly. "Asuma-sensei gave us the next two days off." For emotional rest, he'd said, looking tired.

"Two whole days, huh," Inoichi considered that and Ino waited patiently. "We can do that, I should be able to be free for both of them if you want?"

"I still have training with Shizune-sensei in the evenings," Ino said, knowing what he wanted to know. "And with Chouji a bit during the afternoon, day after tomorrow."

He nodded. "Good enough," he decided, poking at the stir-fry with a spatula. "How about learning a new jutsu then—because of a job well done."

She flushed with pleasure. "It turned out alright in the end," she amended, not able to say much more than that about the mission—if he really wanted to know he'd have to make a formal inquiry. "I'd love to learn a new jutsu though."

His eyes had narrowed slightly when she'd said 'turned out alright in the end' and Ino could make a pretty good guess that, yeah, her father was going to be poking around later and seeing what he could find out about her mission—without asking her questions. Ino knew he wanted her to get into the habit of keeping things like mission details secret and so wouldn't push her, especially on so little sleep, with his questions.

"Jutsu it is then," he said, sounding perfectly cheerful. Ino wasn't fooled, she could do that to people too—act like something that bothered them really didn't—after all, kunoichi got a lot of that in school. Her father, she knew, just had years more experience on her about it. "What can you tell me about mist?" He gave that a considering pause. "Not the village."

"Yeah, dad, I got that," Ino frowned as she forced her weary mind to think about his question. She was pretty sure 'well, it's white and kinda wet and annoying' wouldn't be taken as a _real_ answer (not that she'd blame him for that) and absently sipped at her juice as he dished up two plates of the stir-fry, setting one down in front or her with a quick kiss to her head.

"Eat," he said, taking his own seat, and grinning over at her. "And tell me what you can."

Ino took a bite, humming in pleasure as she did, and swallowed. Twirling her fork as she thought, she drew herself up. "Let's see... it's pretty much fog only less thick—visibility is better..."

* * *

Kotone had been through a debriefing with Hokage-sama, managed to snatch five hours of sleep and a quick trip to the hospital to get her injuries looked over, and the healing the Ino-kun had done inspected for quality—better safe than sorry, really, more than any real worry, not to mention the fact that she would add it into her written report—and then had just been heading back for another bit of sleep, hopefully more than a few hours this time, when one of the Chuunin who helped keep the ANBU headquarters running smoothly, stopped her and said that Morino-san wished to see her.

Right away.

With a sigh that was mostly suppressed, she nodded her understanding and got the location of which room he was in. One of the debriefing rooms—somehow, Kotone wasn't surprised, there were entire days where Ibiki barely left debriefing rooms. Better that, she thought with wry humour, than the interrogation rooms. There were always prisoners to interrogate, but there were very few that lasted long against the head of Torture & Interrogation. For good reason.

Tucking a bit of hair back into place, it always managed to get in her face when she left it mostly down, she made a face as she walked through the halls at a brisk but not overly hurried pace. Had she not been in ANBU, she might have been tempted to have it cut. But Kotone knew better than that—long hair on a kunoichi was a valuable asset for certain sorts of missions. It was easier to work with, and had less chance of mishaps when there was no worry of hair extensions coming loose or even falling off entirely.

The hall with the debriefing rooms was bland, and blinding with lights that gleamed down from the ceiling leaving no spot darkened, but for the shadows she brought with her. Rapping on the door with her knuckles, more of a small courtesy than out of any real need to warn him that she was there, Kotone opened the door. He nodded her towards a chair, leaning back in his with a clipboard propped up in his lap. "Agent Watanabe."

"Agent Morino," she said, her lips twitching with amusement as she shut the door, triggering the seals that would keep all noise from getting out of the room—and prevent any spies from seeing into the room at the same time—before taking the seat he'd indicated. "You wished to see me?"

"I've received a recording of your preliminary debrief from Hokage-sama," he said, flicking through what had to be the transcription of it—some desk Chuunin had been busy typing while she'd been asleep no doubt—and glancing up at her, the light hanging from the ceiling throwing his scars into sharp relief. "And I'm aware that you've yet to submit your written account of the mission."

She nodded, a gesture for him to go on. "You have questions?"

His smile stretched the scars unpleasantly. "There's always questions," Ibiki intoned. "But yes, and while most of it can wait until your written account," it was easier, she knew, for them to ask the right questions then, "Hiromasa requires your full account of what you noted concerning Oto and Iwa immediately."

Distantly, Kotone still craved additional sleep, but this was her duty. She sat up straighter, and started talking. "The first indication of irregularities occurred..."

* * *

It was one of those things that _had_ to be done. Ino knew that. She was still rather wishing that there was a way to get out of it, but it was her idea to have this talk now and so there was no way she was going to chicken out of it.

As she waited for him, she'd shown up early on purpose, Ino practiced her Taijutsu. The way each kick, punch, thrust and twist felt gave her mind something to occupy itself with as she tried to figure out what, exactly, she was going to say. The sun beat down on her, a rare gorgeous day in the middle of winter and while the ground beneath the trees was still wet, everywhere else things were slowly drying. There was no dust, not in this weather, and Ino moved, all but dancing as she practiced her forms.

This was a relief, this steady ever shifting set of motions that made her blood race through her body. Each kick she did had more power to it than the one before, each punch was done a little harder, and Ino was pleased to be able to notice that, when before she would have had to stop, now she could keep going.

Slowly she was getting stronger.

It was maybe fifteen minutes later that Ino felt Chouji's familiar chakra signature enter the training ground. She didn't wave or call out to him, concentrating on finishing up the series of forms she was working on. He'd understand, Ino knew, it was hardly the first time that this had happened and they'd all done it to each other before.

Practise, after all, was one of those things that it was severely rude to interrupt unless it was for a mission or for an emergency. Otherwise waiting the few minutes it generally took someone to finish what they were doing was generally not more than a minor inconvenience. Ino forced her attention wholly into her movements, trying to ignore the way that, really, she wished that something had come up that could constitute an emergency.

Anything but honesty, right? Right.

Finishing the last kick, Ino began her cool down routine, tossing Chouji a tight grin as she did. He tossed her water bottle at her in response and she grabbed it out of the air gratefully.

"You're faster," he said, as she tossed the bottle back at him after having drank half of it. He caught it just as easily as she had in the first place. "By a fair bit."

Ino grinned over at him, hands above her head as she stretched out. "I'd be pretty depressed," she called, "if I was getting slower."

He just laughed.

She finished her stretches soon enough and headed over to him. "Hey," Ino said, flopping down on the log he was sitting on. He shifted over slightly as she reached for her water bottle again. "Hope I didn't drag you away from anything important." Even though she'd kind of been hoping...

"Just training," he said, "I told my father I was going to train with you so he let me go. We'll pick up what we were covering in the evening. How are you feeling now?"

Oh well, no easy way out for her. "Pretty good," she said, taking a moment to consider the condition of her body. "A bit stiff in places, but that's getting worked out with every bit of practise I do."

She chattered on brightly, saying nothing of real importance and all the while Chouji watched her with the same patience look he got whenever he knew she was trying to get around to something that might be important. Slowly, Ino flushed. "Sorry," she mumbled. "I asked you here and then all I do is talk about nothing at all."

"Don't worry about it," Chouji replied easily. "You always do that. By now I'm fairly used to it—you just owe me training later."

Ino made a face and laughed. "You're going to flatten me," she accused. "I might be better now, but if you think I haven't seen how you're doing lately, you're crazy."

It had always been easy just to talk with him about anything and everything on her mind. She knew that his temper was as long as hers was short, though they tended to switch that around in the field—she might snap and snarl during a mission, but she always kept her head, whereas Chouji would lose his temper no matter where when his weight was brought up to mock. And he rarely took real exception to her oft-times foul mood swings and rants. Ino glanced at him and sighed.

"I know you watch," he told her, seeming perfectly content to go along with whatever she wanted to say and Ino wondered if he really trusted her to get to the point that much. That sort of faith rather made her feel that her wish to run away was cowardly and small.

She sighed again. "I could," Ino commented, "be really cruel and make you blush for that, because _really_--but doing that would only make me feel worse, I think." Resisting the urge to tug on her hair—that was a childish habit—Ino turned over the entirety of what she wanted to say in her mind. "Can you, like, just—not say anything? I mean, you can ask questions later, but not during it?"

Chouji rested one hand comfortingly on her shoulder and Ino was grateful again that this was Chouji she was talking to, not Shikamaru. Shikamaru just riled her up, easy as breathing, Chouji made her feel safe. Not that she'd ever tell him that out loud. "Of course," Chouji said, "I can do that."

Her smile at him was heartfelt, if brief. "Thank you," Ino said, and steeled herself before launching into the full recital of what all she'd been doing lately. Her healing, which she'd told both Shikamaru and Asuma-sensei, but not Chouji. Ino reluctantly admitted that, hurrying to explain that it hadn't been meant as a slight but if he took it that way—well, there was nothing she could do. She talked about how she thought it was totally unfair the way Shikamaru had kept shoving her into roles that were supportive only, and how much that had hurt. Ino admitted, fiddling with her water bottle, that she'd cried over it more than once. She explained the whole trail of thought that had led to her asking Shizune-sensei to train her, how Shikamaru had found out.

Her training with her dad she covered, but gave him a sort of rueful half-grin when she had to be sketchy on details—he understood, after all, with the Clan Confidential—and how she'd been so _excited_ for the mission and the chance to prove herself.

And then how it had gone wrong, how scared she'd been, how terrifying it had been to find out that Amaya-san had been taken away to be tortured, and how she'd wanted so desperately to get out of it all on her own because that, at least, would've been a way of proving that she hadn't needed help at all and how Amaya-san said that there was no shame in having to have help _anyway_. Almost shyly she confessed that the Hokage herself had said 'well done' about the mission.

Eventually, though, she ran out of steam and just picked at the bandages wrapped around her arms. Now and then she darted glances at him, bit her lip, and returned to fiddling.

Chouji's face gave little away—he looked thoughtful, but no more, and Ino irrationally wished that he'd be more expressive. Finally, though, he started to laugh.

Ino blinked at him, bewildered and a bit hurt. "What's so funny?" she demanded.

"You," he said, tugging a stray bit of her hair gently. "And Shikamaru. You two almost deserve each other. Ino, next time, don't wait so long to talk about it."

She glanced away. "You're not mad?"

"I'm not—mad," he said slowly. "A bit, I guess, disappointed. But not mad. You always were a schemer." Chouji slapped her lightly on the shoulder. "Come on, we've got training to do. You get to buy lunch later."

That was his price. Ino tossed her head. "Bring it on." And just like that, it was alright between them.

* * *

Please review!


	18. Chapter 11: Breathe III

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 11 Breathe (Part III)  
Author: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 10 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk! Sorry for the wait!

* * *

Ino slumped back on her bed and stretched, feeling her muscles ache, but it was a good ache so she just sighed and stared up at her ceiling for a bit. A snatched few seconds of relaxation. It wasn't like she had all that much time otherwise at the moment--between training with her father, training with Shizune-sensei, and then yet more training and missions with Asuma-sensei and her team--Ino was feeling a bit run ragged. At least she wasn't hungry; Chouji and her had stopped for a quick supper when she'd seen him leaving the library.

The entry form Shizune-sensei had handed her at the end of today's session crinkled and she twisted, tugging the paper out and rereading it. Chuunin exam, the deadline for handing in the sheet stating her intention to join was tomorrow. Chouji had already agreed, but they still needed a third.

She wasn't stupid; she knew exactly who she was supposed to ask. Ino shoved herself up, off the bed, and over to her dresser to grab her hairbrush. So _annoying_. Really, the fact that she was all but expected to was the thing that grated the most. If it had been her own idea—

Then fine, whatever. Ino considered trying to find another teammate, just to spite their expectations, but... with the deadline tomorrow, she'd lost track of time, she doubted that there were many half-way decent teammates to be found. Ugh. Her hair was about as brushed as it was going to get. Setting it down, Ino grabbed her sunglasses and set them on top of her head.

Heading downstairs, and finding that her mother was going to be late—doing inventory in the shop—and her father was out on a mission and that she and Sakura were supposed to fend for themselves made Ino sigh. Right then. Takeout it was. (Ino didn't mind cooking, but tonight was so not a night to want to do it. She didn't want to do anything.)

Flicking the cupboard doors open, she checked to see if there was anything that vaguely appealed to her—there wasn't—and had gravitated to the living room, and was studying one of her medical texts when Sakura entered with a tired sounding greeting.

"Long day?" Ino asked, marking her place in the book and wandering out to the kitchen.

Sakura kicked off her shoes, got a glass of water, and slumped down on one of the chairs. "Painful," she said, with a roll of her eyes. "Tsunade-shishou decided that my taijutsu needed work, so that's what we did all afternoon. I hurt in places I didn't even know it was possible to hurt."

Shuddering her distaste for that idea, Ino took a seat of her own. "I wouldn't want to go up against Hokage-sama either, even for training." She'd be _flattened_.

"Shizune-san isn't a light-weight either," Sakura commented. "If you ever wind up with her training you for more than just straight field medicine."

"Maybe," Ino admitted, "but you've got to admit that it sounds way more frightening to be training against the Hokage."

"She's just a person," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "Though I'll admit she's a very tough one."

"No kidding." Ino tapped the table with her fingernails. "She's just the, you know, _Hokage_. Tough doesn't really cut it as a good descriptor at all. What do you want for supper?"

That got her a blink and stare combination from Sakura, and Ino realized that, quite possibly, she'd changed the subject of the conversation way too fast. "Dinner," Ino repeated, "you know, for eating? I didn't see anything interesting in the cupboards when I checked."

Nothing that didn't require way too much preparation for her tastes.

"Takeout then?" Sakura said, looking a bit amused. "You never find anything in the cupboards that appeals. I think you're just lazy."

Ino shrugged. "So what? It's not like it hurts me, and everything in there takes way longer than ordering take out does."

"Fine, fine," Sakura caved. "I don't care—just as long as it's food, honestly."

She ordered out and they settled into amicable bickering over who was going to clean up after supper (Ino won that—she was paying, so Sakura had to clean up) and what their general plans for the next day were. In due time food arrived and it wasn't long before they were settled at the kitchen table and digging in.

"Mmmm," Ino hummed. "Isn't this better than cooking for ourselves?"

"As long as it's not every night," Sakura said dryly, though she was eating just as much as Ino was. "That'd get awfully old quick. Not to mention that, between the two of us, I'd like to think we've got some skill at cooking—especially you, little miss best kunoichi marks in years."

"Just because I'm good at it doesn't mean I _like_ it." Ino took a sip of her water. "Cooking was my least favourite bit of the class. Hey, Sakura..."

Sakura paused, chopsticks halfway to her mouth. "Yeah?"

"Did you know the deadline for the Chuunin exam forms is tomorrow?" Ino asked, tapping her fingers on the table.

"I _do_ work for Hokage-sama," Sakura said dryly. "Yeah, I know. Bit of a pain for me, actually..."

"Did you want to take the exam?" Ino asked.

The question earned her a bit of a shrug. "I don't know," Sakura said honestly, "it'd be hard anyway at this late notice—"

Ino waited, a look of impatience—seriously, how slow could someone _be_?—on her face as Sakura's eyes widened.

"_You_ want _me_ on your team."

Maybe? Ino wasn't sure of that herself. "You and I can work together," she said, dodging that question, "and Chouji and I are fantastic at teamwork." When they were on their game.

"Bit of a late notice, isn't it?" Sakura muttered, setting her chopsticks down. "I mean, deadline's tomorrow, you want me to make up my mind now—"

"Late request or not," Ino said rolling her eyes and hiding a grin, "it can't be that hard of a decision, hon-est-ly. You can't tell me you haven't thought about the Chuunin Exam at all in the last six months. If you don't want to, then fine." She made sure to sound smug on the last word.

Sakura looked wary. "Fine?"

"Fine," Ino said airily. "I'll just become a Chuunin before you, forehead. You'll be further behind me _again_."

"In your _dreams_!" Sakura erupted. "You couldn't win against me in a hundred years!"

"Guess we'll never know," Ino taunted, dancing out of her chair to put a little distance between her and the very irate Sakura. "Coward, coward, scared of an exam!"

"I am _not_ scared of it," Sakura shrieked, advancing on her. "And you'll never beat me!"

Ino raised her chin imperiously, eyebrows set skeptically. "Prove it," she drawled insultingly, "join the exam. Take it with me and Chouji and then we'll see."

"Fine!" Sakura glared at her. "I'll take the exam. Happy now?"

She pretended to think about that, raising one finger to her lips considering, before grinning suddenly. "Yes, actually."

* * *

The sun was shining weakly through the canopy of leaves and there was only the barest hint of a breeze to stir the air around him. Shikamaru found he didn't mind—he liked the silence, and liked the chance to just let his shadow skitter as he walked, shifting from tree to tree and then pooling around his feet.

Not tangible, not really, but not precisely ignorable either. Almost like a cool film brushing his toes—it was nice enough, today, that he'd worn the standard issue open-toed sandals that all ninja owned at least one pair of, rather than the close-toed ones. Here and there he could catch glimpses of deer, but for the most part it was just him and his thoughts.

And his shadow. With a huff of irritation as it writhed over a branch, pooling like ink on the other side, he tried to pull it back to himself the way his father had shown him. Slowly, ever so slowly, it huddled around his feet and he sighed, feeling sweat bead down his back.

Controlling it took chakra, and effort, neither of which he was fond of expending just because his shadow was in a state of flux.

"You're trying too hard," his father, Shikaku, said from above him.

His shoulders tightened—he hadn't sensed him showing up at all. Shikamaru scowled up to where his dad sat neatly cradled in the fork of two branches. "You're the one that told me to try harder," he retorted. Nothing about how he hadn't realized he was there until he'd revealed himself. No doubt he already knew, and it would come up in a lesson later.

"Try harder," Shikaku said very dryly, "doesn't mean 'strain so hard you're exhausted after one attempt' either. Get up here, boy." It was said casually, cheerfully even, as much as his father ever was. Right now, his father looked relaxed—completely idle and at ease. Experience, though, had proven to Shikamaru that when it came to training that his father missed little.

Shikamaru's lips thinned slightly as he considered the amount of work it'd take to get up the tree. "Now you want me to use more chakra, just to reach you? Did you have to pick the tallest tree in the woods?"

"You need more training," his father replied, "especially if this much effort knocks you flat. Get up the tree, do it for your old man."

"Yeah, yeah," he said, heaving a sigh, but nonetheless walking his way up the tree. "Why couldn't you come down though? Wouldn't training be easier on the ground?"

"Because I'm the old one," Shikaku said easily, "so I get to make the rules."

That answered that, he supposed, even if it _was_ a pain. Shikamaru took a seat, legs dangling off both sides of the branch he was on, and gazed at the ground. "It's quiet here," he commented. "Though I don't like that you can't see the sky."

"Were you thinking hard, or hardly thinking at all?"

He shrugged. "Probably a bit of both, wasn't really out here for any reason in particular."

"Training then," Shikaku said, leaning back and settling himself so that he looked even more comfortable. Shikamaru wasn't sure if he actually _was_ as comfy as he appeared, or if it was simply a clever bit of misdirection.

Considering his father, either was possible. "Training," he said dryly. "By sitting up in a tree?"

"Behave." Shikaku nudged him with his foot, glancing up at the branches above them. "Training though—before your mother kills me for not working you harder."

Shikamaru coughed something that might've been 'whipped' but his father ignored that. Which, Shikamaru had to admit, was probably better for his health than if he'd deigned to take exception to it.

"Shadow training then," Shikamaru said. "Bringing my shadow under control."

"Not just your shadow, have you been actually reading anything I've given you?" Shikaku heaved a sigh that was entirely fake sounding to Shikamaru's ears and looked darkly amused. "Don't tell me I have to spell it out?"

"I've read what you've given me," Shikamaru said evenly, wondering now what he'd apparently missed.

"And you've missed the real point, am I right?"

One day, Shikamaru decided, he'd shove his dad off a tree and laugh. It probably wasn't going to happen for years—Chuunin or not, Shikamaru knew he had little chance at surprising his father. Not the most ambitious goal, but one that suited him just fine.

Shikamaru was fairly sure Ino would shove him where she wanted him to go anyway. Too much effort to argue with her once she had her heart set on something. Unless it was more entertaining to argue. Sometimes the mood struck him. "I'm pretty sure that the real point of shadow training is generally to train your shadow."

"Point," Shikaku said, completely unbothered by that. "That's not all though, and I didn't raise you to see only what's right in front of your face. When has your shadow been acting up the most?"

"When I'm irritated." That was an easy one, really. His shadow even now was tying itself in knots and slowly crawling up his arms. It seemed to be avoiding his father deliberately. "I think you're scaring it."

Shikaku's laugh rang through the forest. "It's not stupid, boy. Your shadow knows what shadows not to go up against." He shook his head. "When you're irritated—when else?"

"When I'm... angry," Shikamaru said slowly. "Or worried. It doesn't seem to react when I'm calm or happy as much."

"Would you say, then, that it's most reactive during negative emotions?"

"Sounds about right," he said, frowning slightly. "Is it supposed to do that?"

"Negative emotions are the most often felt while out in the field," Shikaku said, his voice taking on a lecturing air. "So your shadow quickly grows attuned to them and reacts more powerfully. They pick up on the more pleasant emotions eventually, but at the moment they won't. What this means is that, for now, getting your shadow under control means we're going to be getting your negative emotions under control—"

"Is that why you're so laid back all the time?" Shikamaru interrupted.

Shikaku smiled slightly. "Precisely. They can't react to what I don't feel. Let's get out of this tree—we don't want you falling out of it while training." With that, he rolled out of the tree, landing lightly below.

Shikamaru rolled his eyes, but followed.

* * *

One day, Tsunade thought ruefully, she was going to drown in paperwork and no one would ever find her body. They'd just pile more and more paper up in the room until there was no chance of her ever being discovered. She eyed the piles on her desk, sighed, and took a sip of her water—Shizune had taken away the sake she'd smuggled in yesterday—then picked up her pen to continue on.

This pile had to be done before the teams left for the Chuunin exam. That pile had to be done to finalize the graduating teams for this year. Yet another pile had to do with the admittance of new students to the Academy for the coming year. Then, of course, there were all the mission assignments and debriefings to approve.

As Hokage, after all, if she personally handed out every mission and heard every debrief, then she'd never get anything done. Chuunin, on rotation, did that work for her—ANBU and Jounin handling the more sensitive cases, and it was only a rare few that came to her directly.

Shaking her head, she was woolgathering, Tsunade bent over the next document, reading it quickly before affixing her seal to the bottom of the sheet. One down, she thought, a million to go.

A quite knock on her door sounded, the pattern that of her Chuunin guards, and she looked up. "Come in."

"Shizune-san is here, Hokage-sama. She said you had a meeting with her scheduled?"

Did she? Tsunade very carefully weighed her options in a split second—paperwork or Shizune, it was a tough call—before setting her pen down. "Yes, of course. Send her in." She couldn't remember, but Shizune was one of the few that it didn't really matter if there was an appointment in place or not. Not that this would stop her from being a pain about it though.

The Chuunin ducked out of her office, and Tsunade tried to find her calendar to see if she'd actually marked down an appointment, or if Shizune was lying through her teeth. Huh. What do you know—Shizune had written in the appointment, it was all there, neatly timed and dated.

"Hokage-sama," Shizune said, while slipping into the office and paused when she noticed the look she was on the receiving end of. "Yes?"

"Have you been adding things into my book again?" Tsunade asked, frowning at the meeting time. "Because I didn't write this down."

"You didn't check it this morning either, I bet," Shizune said, taking a seat and folding her hands neatly in her lap. "Not if you're accusing me right off the bat of altering your book."

"It's not my writing," Tsunade said, frowning more at her first pupil and not conceding the point. Even if it was a rather decent analysis of the situation. That wasn't the point here.

"No," Shizune said, undisturbed, "it's mine. You agreed to the meeting three days ago. I put it in then."

"Fine fine," she said, setting the book down. "I didn't check it this morning."

"Bad habits are hard to break."

"Why bother breaking it?" Tsunade asked, smiling. "When I've got you who'll charge in and make sure I'm on time for things."

That made Shizune pause and eye her warily. Tsunade very carefully kept the smile off her face. The fact that it was the truth just made it more likely that Shizune would continue to mistrust it. She was well aware of the fact that, quite honestly, she was likely to abuse that fact.

But appreciating every now and then that she had the opportunity _to_ abuse it was something she could do.

"Right," Shizune said, visibly coming to the conclusion to pretend it had never happened, and taking a seat. She proffered the two folders she was carrying to Tsunade. "These two are the teams I would recommend for also taking the exam. Both of them have already given their tentative acceptance of going, should you approve it they'll be ready to depart with Ino-kun's team, and Gai-sensei's team."

Tsunade flipped open the folders, glancing over the chosen shinobi—good kids, she thought, steady and strong and clever—before glancing up. "Ino-kun's team?"

With a meaningful glance at the piles of paperwork on her desk, Shizune smiled. "Ino-kun's team," she repeated, "has a third member, and all three members of the team submitted their intentions to participate in the exam. The relevant paperwork is no doubt buried under work you should've gotten done last week."

Ignoring that—it was fairly mild as rebukes went as it was—Tsunade gave the folders in her hands another long look before setting them to the side. "I'll authorize both these teams," she said, "and have Hiromasa look over them so his agents know who they're keeping an eye on should things turn up-side down."

Shizune nodded, looking pleased with herself. "Copies of these files were sent to him just before I came here."

"Why aren't you the one in this chair?" Tsunade asked rhetorically. "Sakura-kun mentioned to me that Ino-kun had asked her to take the exam." Her voice put a wry emphasis on the word 'asked', making Shizune laugh softly.

"I'm sure the both of them will do well," Shizune said. "I know some of what you've been doing with Sakura-kun, and I know Ino-kun has covered a lot more than simply the medic studies she's been doing under me."

She wasn't worried about that, and waved one hand dismissively. "Neither of them are standing still on their development, I'm pleased with both their progress." Tsunade did wonder, though, how well their training would show itself off come the exam—medical jutsu was impressive, yes, but it was also more difficult to accurately judge in an exam like this. Ah well, neither Sakura-kun or Ino-kun were likely to be relying solely on medical jutsu.

That had been made sure of, though Sakura-kun had been slightly confused by the change in lessons.

"Those two managed the first double-knockout in years last time," she commented instead. "I was only wondering how they'd fare this time around, while having to work with instead of against, each other." Tsunade grinned. "Want to bet on it?"

"No," Shizune said dryly, "I'll not curse either of them with your ill luck just because you wanted to make it a game. Hand me that stack of paper, and I'll see what you've got to cover exactly."

They laughed, and settled in to work.

* * *

Shikamaru was... _moping_.

Ino eyed him stealthily while he and Chouji bickered about where they wanted to go for lunch—Asuma-sensei had let them go for an hour and a half, with orders to get their butts back to the training ground afterwards—and Ino was content enough to leave that decision up to them.

He didn't much act like he was moping, she conceded. His sighs were as heavy as normal and right now he was half exasperated, half amused. Acting, though, wasn't something taught only to kunoichi, and he was just ever so slightly off.

Belatedly she realized they were both looking at her. Ino stopped and blinked at them while mentally rerunning what she'd caught of the conversation in her head. Bad kunoichi, she scolded, you weren't paying attention. "What?"

"We've only asked for your opinion three times," Shikamaru said very dryly. "And you're 'what-ing' us?"

She bristled. "Then maybe—"

"Are you feeling okay?" Chouji broke in, before a fight could start up. "You were quiet in practise too."

"I'm fine," she said waspishly.

"Because _that's_ convincing," Shikamaru snarked.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. He narrowed his back at her.

Chouji sighed. "Can we not do this in the middle of the street?" he asked plaintively. "We're going to attract attention."

Attention was something she was pretty good at dealing with, admittedly, but this was just _annoying_ since there was nothing wrong with her. Ino crossed her arms over her chest for a second before placing her hands on her hips instead. Crossed arms were a defensive posture, hands on hips more confrontational. Little things to remember.

"Fine," she said, in a voice that brooked no argument, "we're going for teriyaki chicken. Find a place."

Ino glowered at their heads even as Chouji sighed, and headed off in the direction of a restaurant. Shikamaru's gaze rested on her for a moment longer before he turned to head after Chouji. Ino trailed them, fuming and irritable.

She was allowed to be quiet sometimes too, seriously. It was so not that weird, right? Right. Picking at the bandages on her arms—now that she was off that mission, her regular training attire had reemerged and she was grateful for it. Being that defenseless had been awful. Tucking her bandage a bit tighter, she followed at a distance large enough to make the fact that she was displeased with them clear.

They waited for her at the entrance to the diner, and she swept past them without a word, getting a booth for three and menus while knowing they were probably rolling their eyes at her behind her back. What_ever_.

Ino took the window seat, and proceed to gaze out the window. Studiously ignoring them as Shikamaru slid in beside her and Chouji took the other side of the booth, she said nothing until the waitress took their order, and then lapsed back into moody silence.

Then yelped as someone kicked her. Automatically she lashed out with her foot and was rewarded with a grunt from Chouji even as Shikamaru buried his face in his hands and heaved a sigh.

"Don't start yelling," he said flatly, just as she opened her mouth to do exactly that. "You'll get us kicked out."

"Then don't kick me," she snapped, pulling her legs up under her and glad she was still small enough to do that without it being uncomfortable. "Next time I'll kick back harder." Her tone definitely left no room for mistaking where she'd be aiming for. "Leave me alone."

"No," Shikamaru's hand pulled her away from the window. "Not until you start talking."

"I'll start yelling," she said warningly, jerking out of his grasp but twisting so she was facing them. It put her back to the window, but Ino was sure they'd keep an eye out for her even if they were mad at her. (And she at them.) "And then disappear and get my own lunch without you two."

Cool air trickled around her legs, and her eyes widened as she tried to get her legs away from the shadow wrapped around her ankles. It clung, a bit like taffy. "Let go of me," she hissed, venom crawling into her voice. "Right now. You _know_ I hate it—"

"I wasn't trying to do anything," he snapped back, as Chouji sighed, glancing around to see how much attention they were drawing. "It moved on its own. Shut up for a few minutes and I'll get it off you."

Ino glared, but fell silent after a quick glance at his hands—they weren't in any position to be casting any sort of jutsu, which meant there was a good chance of it being the truth—and tapped her fingers ominously while she waited for him to get the shadow off of her.

"Ino," Chouji said, after a few moments of just watching them as the shadow ever so slowly started letting her go, "quit glaring at him. You're distracting him."

She transferred her glare to him instead. He met it evenly. Silence reigned at the table as their orders were brought out, and it wasn't until the waitress had left, giving all three of them a dubious look, that Chouji said anything else.

"You're acting childish," he said mildly.

"I am not," she said indignantly, but keeping her voice down for the most part. If it got her out of the shadow quicker, then she was all for quiet. Ino fussed with her arm bandages. "I'm not the one assuming that just because someone is quiet means they're not okay and I'm not the one tying people up with their shadow either!"

"That was an accident," Shikamaru muttered.

"I'm _fine_," Ino insisted furiously. "Leave me alone."

"We'd be poor teammates if we left you alone when you're so obviously lying," Chouji said. "Quiet might not mean anything bad for most people, but when you're quiet you're either upset, or beyond pissed off at something. We _know_ that."

The last tendrils of the shadow slid off her legs, and Ino promptly shoved herself over so that she was just a little further away from Shikamaru. "I was just thinking," she insisted.

"Are you going to tell us," Shikamaru drawled, "or are we going to have to drag it out of you?"

Ino resolutely picked up her fork and seriously debated just ignoring him and his question. But they had her trapped where the choices were either getting around them, whether it be verbally or physically... or going out the window. Her scowl deepened. That was stupid of her.

"I was just thinking," she said, into the silence around them, "that this time _you're_ the one getting left behind." She stabbed a bit of lettuce viciously as uncomfortable silence reigned.

* * *

The fact that Yamanaka-san and her mother had talked, and that she'd been informed that some changes were hopefully being figured out, didn't alter the fact that Sakura had no interest at the moment in trying to live with her parents again.

It was easy, after all, to slide into old habits and she'd gotten so much more done while staying at Ino's place. Ino had just rolled her eyes and said 'whatever' when Sakura had mentioned, a bit hesitantly, that she'd be staying longer. That was, in Ino-speak, full permission. She didn't thank her—that would only irritate Ino.

With the exam now, though, Sakura had asked Mui if she could get off a bit early to visit her parents and tell them she was going. What that would accomplish, she didn't know, but it was something that lurked at the back of her mind, gently insisting that she had to do it.

Sunbeams danced off the rooftops, the sky turning yellow-orange as sunset approached, and she closed her eyes for a second, taking a deep breath before making sure, once again, that her bruises from training weren't immediately visible. To any ninja it was obvious that she was sore but Sakura held the quiet hope that her parents would be less likely to notice the same.

_You can't heal everything,_ Tsunade-shishou had said, _especially not training bruises. The body remembers the hurt so it can better avoid getting hurt that way again. And healing everything that happens, I know it's a powerful urge, but it only makes it more difficult to heal injuries when they really matter. Like any kind of medicine, Sakura, moderation is the key._

She made a face, much like the one she pulled as she walked down the street she'd grown up on and wondered at the fact that, already, she felt like a bit of a stranger. The street looked the same as always—Mayu-san's flowers were still holding up under all the rain they'd had lately, one of the kids a few doors down, probably Renge-chan, had left out one of the hoops played with, Hideki-san's light was off, he was likely working late—and then she was heading up her front steps and feeling cold. This was a civilian sector, everything marked it and yet it wasn't anything she could put her fingers on. Turning her head, Sakura considered the windows—were they narrower, just a bit, in the areas where ninja tended to live? She didn't know.

Windows weren't all that important, after all, unless you were trying to get inside via one. Maybe she'd look it up, just to see. Decision made, for the moment, on that, Sakura took a deep breath. Rather than just open the door, she still had her key and her mother kept the place unlocked when she was at home, Sakura rang the doorbell. And fidgeted.

All of a sudden she wished that she hadn't listened to her instincts and had continued to avoid this street. Feeling like a stranger, in the place she'd grown up in, was grating on her nerves, fraying them like cheap thread and Sakura didn't appreciate it.

_I should've brought Ino_, Sakura thought, hearing her mother's familiar footsteps coming for the door. _She's better at talking._ But Ino had been out, off training with Shizune-san, and Sakura hadn't been able to put it off any longer. They left in a little over a day and a half. There was no more time for hesitation.

The door opened, and Sakura stared at her mother, trying on a smile. It felt stiff, but it was the best she could do. "Hi," she said, ignoring the surprise in her mother's eyes. "Can I come in?"

"It's your house too," was the reply, as Sayako took a step back.

Sakura stepped inside the house, kicking off her sandals even though part of her wanted to leave them on. There was no need to be rude though, and she made herself remember that. Just because she felt awkward, ungainly, a bit like a criminal didn't mean that it was anything but the demons of her own thoughts and worries infecting her emotional reactions.

Just chemistry, she reminded herself. That's all it was. Following her mother silently through the hallway, and out to the living room though it didn't feel like that. She shivered, making the motion stop before it was overly visible, and answered her mother silently. _No, it's not. It doesn't feel the same._

Her father looked up from his newspaper, and Sakura wished she could see her mother's expression as his own went thoughtful. "Sakura," he said, smiling at her and she, though she was trying, couldn't tell if it was fake or not. "It's nice to see you."

Somehow, that was reassuring. Her return smile to him was less tentative than the one she'd given her mother. "I've been busy," she told him, moving to take a seat closer to him, while her mother murmured something about getting a tea. "The time's gone by fast."

He folded his paper on his lap, green eyes glinting with interest. "Anything you can tell me about?"

It was the same old question that he'd asked a million times when she'd come back from the Academy, then from missions and training with her team, and she found herself answering it. There was, in fact, things she could tell him—no details, of course not, but little bits and pieces of what she'd been up to, how her training was going, what sort of task-master Tsunade-shishou was. How much work she was doing was danced around, though she made sure to make him understand that she'd been getting enough sleep—though admittedly, it was probably only enough for a person her age—and eating right—as if she could do anything else while living with Ino's family—and that she was improving, getting better, not just going to stick around and be someone that others had to protect.

Somewhere in the middle of all of that, she had more to say to him than she'd thought, and he seldom interrupted, her mother came back with two cups of tea, offering her one. Sakura took it with a quick smile, one that wasn't returned, and went on while her father listened and her mother sat, letting her own tea grow cold and said nothing. Now and then, her father glanced at his wife with a look Sakura didn't understand at all. Eventually, though, she wound down.

"Busy," he said with the quick flash of a smile. "You weren't kidding."

She straightened her shoulders. It was best to bring it up before they did, the reason why she was here, they all knew, after all, that she wasn't only here to bring them up to speed on her progress as a shinobi. "There was one other thing," she began. Her mother sat up straight, looking at her, and her father only gestured with one hand for her to go on. Even with that encouragement, it took her a moment.

"I'm taking the Chuunin Exam again," Sakura said, chin going up in defiance though her voice remained level. "I'm leaving in two days."

Silence reigned for a painfully stretched three seconds, while Sakura all but held her breath and hoped this wouldn't go over as badly she suspected it might. Anger she was expecting, shouting and words spoken that would stab her in the heart and ache more than any of her bruises ever could. That she expected.

Then her mother started to cry, and Sakura found that hurt more.

* * *

There were many things that Hinata was and was not. She was the shyest in her clan's recent years—according to the elders she was quite possibly the most timid Hyuuga ever to be born. She was middling skilled with her Jyuuken. She was terrified to the point of being unable to properly attack her younger sister thanks to fear of harming her—which Hinata knew was ridiculous, as Hanabi could more than take care of herself, five years younger or not—and did her best to turn every practice session they had now into a lesson rather than a real spar.

Lessons learnt in the safety of their home were ones that wouldn't have to be relearned out in the field, after all. Hinata enjoyed cooking. She liked making lotions and salves though she had no intentions of seriously going into healing. It was a hobby, almost. As such, she was allowed it so long as the rest of her improvements continued apace. She wore her hair short because she didn't think she deserved to have it grow out—not when it would make her look more like her father, like Hanabi, like Neji—they all more properly deserved the long hair of their clan than she did.

When it came down to it, she had a will of steel. That was new, and Kurenai-sensei was very terribly pleased about it. She cared about her teammates, even when Shino's way of speaking confused her because she didn't understand all of the words, or when Kiba was simply too loud without meaning to be.

Hyuuga Hinata was all of that, and more. One thing she wasn't though--was stupid.

It's about the Chuunin exam she thought, as Kurenai-sensei greeted Kiba and Shino with a gentle smile. It has to be, the deadline for the applications was yesterday and Neji-nii-san's team is entering. Her team was not. Some sensei, Hinata knew it in her bones, would simply not mention it and let the whole event pass over without comment. Kurenai-sensei, though, would give them an explanation.

"Good morning, Kurenai-sensei," she said, offering a smile. She got one in return even as Akamaru danced around her feet until Kurenai-sensei knelt to pet the dog.

"What sort of training are we doing today?" Kiba asked eagerly. "Or do we have a mission—it's been almost a week since our last one, and Shino's wrist has to be healed up by now, right Shino?"

"I was cleared for mission status yesterday," Shino confirmed when Kurenai-sensei glanced at him with inquiring red eyes. They had had yesterday off—time for training on their own, and time to make sure that they didn't burn themselves out trying to do too many missions without proper breaks in between. Before that Shino had been confined to simply listening to the lectures Kurenai-sensei gave on various new jutsu and situations, and not participating in the active training. "So long as I do not strain it today, I foresee no difficulties in adequately contributing to our continued success."

"That's wonderful news, Shino-kun," Hinata said, the sentiment echoed by Kurenai-sensei.

"It is indeed," Kurenai-sensei said, standing with Akamaru sitting at her feet. "And to answer Kiba's question, we've got a mission. I owe you three an explanation first though."

It was almost amazing how fast that got all three of their attention. Hinata straightened, Shino showed no outward sign of increased attentiveness though she knew it was there—a year and change gave her clues enough to tell that—while Kiba sat down, calling Akamaru to his lap and glancing up.

"One of you, at least, already has an idea of what I'm referring to," Kurenai-sensei said with a faint smile at Hinata. "Isn't that right, Hinata?"

She could feel a blush trying to crawl up her cheeks and did her best to fight it down. "Yes, Kurenai-sensei." At her sensei's nod, Hinata continued on, "The registration for the Chuunin exam ended yesterday, and we are not to take it this time around."

Hinata chanced a glance at Kiba and wasn't surprised to see him looking a bit stormy at that bit of news. Shino continued looking impassive.

Kurenai-sensei held up one hand before Kiba could erupt into questions. "Peace," she said, "it has nothing to do with my estimation of your abilities. I am confident that all three of you could pass the exam if given the chance. Your basic skills that led me to nominate you the last time have only improved and expanded."

"Then why can't we go?" That was Kiba. "And why does Hinata already know about it?"

"Neji-nii-san's team is going," Hinata said quickly. "No other reason than that."

"It's an irrelevant question besides," Shino added. "As in this case how she knows does not impact the decision for us to not enter."

Kiba muttered something incomprehensible and rubbed Akamaru's ears, subsiding into rebellious quiet.

"That's correct," Kurenai-sensei said, drawing their attention back to her. "Hinata, did Neji-kun mention where the exams were being held this year to you?"

She shook her head.

"They are being held in Kumogakure no Sato," Kurenai-sensei said simply.

Hinata drew in a sharp breath as Kiba's head whipped up to stare at their sensei in surprise even as Shino's eyebrows raised over his glasses.

Kurenai-sense nodded. "This is the reason that it was deemed infeasible for my team to attend—only four teams from Konoha are going, in fact, but I was told when we first got wind of the exam that, no matter who else was to go, for political reasons Team 8 would not be permitted."

Hinata flushed miserably. This, then, was all her fault.

"Even Neji-kun's team only narrowly was permitted, with express permission from Hyuuga-sama to attend. They've their own orders to be vigilant." Kurenai-sensei shifted, looking serious. "There's a chance this might end in peace—that's what Hokage-sama wishes for—but I don't think I need to remind you three that peace is a fragile thing between shinobi countries and we've never done well with relations from Kumo."

"Are you aware of what other teams are attending?" Shino asked, mild interest in his voice.

"Ino-san's team," Hinata said quietly, but with a fair bit of confidence. "There's no way that Ino-san would accept anything else."

"Very good, Hinata. Yes, Asuma-sensei's team is attending. Sakura-kun is their third member. The other two are Reiko-sensei's team 5, from Neji's year, and another from the year above. Only teams that Hokage-sama feels are exceptional are going, but she said and requested that I pass along the fact, and I quote, that 'had it been any other country with the same rules, Team 8, under Yuuhi Kurenai, would've been a shoo-in to go' so know that she values your talents and your spirit."

They digested that. Hinata had to admit it gave her a warm glow to be on a team that Hokage-sama herself considered so highly. Even Kiba looked mollified at that.

"As the Chuunin exam is going on," Kurenai-sensei went on, "and will be more than a month in happening, our mission is approximately estimated to take the same amount of time. Debriefing for the mission is at four o'clock this afternoon. Until then we'll be covering a new jutsu I want you three to learn so listen well—"

* * *

Her hair was blonde again, and super soft to the touch, even while she stuffed it into a ponytail that—a quick look in the mirror—she quickly reconsidered as it was _way_ too close to Shikamaru's hairstyle for her comfort and then decided on two pigtails, low ones so she didn't look five. Better.

Ino tied her hitae-ite around her waist, and grinned at herself in the mirror. She was starting to look like herself again, longer hair, blonder than most, and pale skin instead of the tan she'd sported from the mission.

Sakura leaned against the doorframe, rolling her eyes at the scene. "Quit admiring yourself," she teased. "The mirror isn't going anywhere, and I doubt you'd be able to carry it with you all the way to Kumogakure."

She laughed, tugging her shirt straighter, and stepped away from the mirror. "You're just sad that I look better than you do," Ino replied lightly, as she passed Sakura and headed back to her room. "Jealous, much?"

"Not hardly," Sakura snorted, and followed her back. Ino could practically hear her friend rolling her eyes again. "I wouldn't want to look like you for anything."

Once upon a time that hadn't been true. The fact that it _was_ true now, made Ino grin wider. "Lies," she chirped, snagging her bags from where she'd left them on her bed, and slinging them across her back, hands cinching the clasps in front of her. "Filthy lies."

Sakura stuck her tongue out at her, and they both laughed. It didn't matter that sometimes, a lot of the time, they could hardly stand one another, or that they were both looking forward to maybe getting another chance to see how they squared up against each other—six months, and a lot of things had changed, shivery excitement raced up her spine at the thought of another round against Sakura—and see who would win, and who would lose.

If they got another double-knockout again, her father had commented the night before, they'd be the first two in the history of the formal exams to have managed that twice. He'd laughed while they'd pelted him with popcorn, and her mom had just rolled her eyes and told them they were picking up the mess before they even thought about going to bed.

Resisting the urge to check her bags for a third time that morning, snickering as Sakura did the exact same thing she'd been resisting, Ino gave in and triple-checked everything she had with her. Kunai, explosive notes, wire, a few jutsu scrolls her dad had pressed on her as she'd gone up the stairs after Sakura last night, clothing, ration bars, medical supplies...

She was as ready as she was going to get. Ino fiddled with her pink glasses for a moment before settling them on top of her head. If nothing else, they'd make others under-estimate her. That could only be a good thing. "You ready?" she said, fixing her shirt one more time as Sakura closed off her bags and nodded.

"Ready as I'm going to get," Sakura said, and they clattered down the stairs. Breakfast had been eaten already, the dishes washed and put away, and with a hug and a kiss for both her parents—her dad telling her to kick some serious ass—while her mom said something in an undertone to Sakura that made the other girl look surprised and thoughtful for a moment, before a shy smile spread, and Ino made a note to ask about it later, they were out the door and heading to meet at the gate where everyone was gathering.

"What did mom say to you?" Ino asked when they were halfway down the street and she was trying to see if she could spot Chouji. She doubted she would, because of the way the streets were, he'd the chances were, would take a different route than they would even if it was in the same direction, but doubting had never managed to stop Ino from doing anyway.

"None of your business," Sakura said, whacking her lightly on the arm. "Nosy pig."

Oh. That meant it was _on_. "What_ever_, forehead-girl," Ino caroled, deliberately darting one hand over to muss Sakura's hair—the resulting outraged cry was satisfying—and dancing away with a laugh. "Tag! You're it!" And the chase was on.

She bolted up the side of the nearest building, this was a game better played on the rooftops, and Sakura followed her while shouting something about this not being the Academy anymore and when was she going to _grow up?_ Leaping from roof to roof, stray bits of hair escaping from her braids and feeling light and free as it slowly proved that in terms of pure speed she was still faster than Sakura was, Ino managed to keep her lead, just out of Sakura's grasp the whole way.

All too soon they were at the gate and Ino flung herself off the roof with a laugh that was echoed by Sakura's. The others who were already there gave them looks that Ino didn't bother to pay attention to—there was no need to be serious, not yet, they were still in the village and had the whole journey to go until they reached Kumogakure anyway—as she sought out Chouji. Sakura, behind her, was talking rapidly to a genin with blue hair that she seemed to know.

Chouji wasn't there yet, but Shikamaru was, even though he wasn't going. "You're here?" she said, and winced a bit at how that sounded.

Shikamaru glanced at her, raising one eyebrow while he shrugged as his shadow pooled around his feet. "For Chouji," he said lazily, fiddling with a bit of thread. "He'd nag if I didn't show up."

"Nuh huh," she said, leaning forward and poking him in the chest. He watched her with an air of amusement. "You're lying to me, and I know it. Chouji doesn't nag."

"That's what you think," Shikamaru snorted, a smile playing at his lips. "He just doesn't when you're around because you're so much worse."

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. He smirked. She opened her mouth to retort—

"Ino! Shikamaru!" Chouji called, walking up. "Sorry, I'm late."

--Ino shut her mouth and sighed. "You're not that late," she said, turning to him with a smile. "I think we're still missing at least one or two people, right?"

"Something like that," Shikamaru said mildly. "I wasn't exactly keeping track."

"He's lying," Ino sing-songed, just to make Shikamaru wince and Chouji hide a grin. They stood about, talking idly, and avoiding any sort of mention that Shikamaru wasn't going with them for about ten minutes before Asuma-sensei's voice rang out over the group, telling them to get in formation, that they were leaving. With a final good-bye, Chouji headed to grab Sakura (who was talking to Rock Lee).

Ino stared at Shikamaru for a second. "Don't do anything stupid," Ino said lightly, "while we're not around to bail you out of it."

He rolled his eyes. "You should talk."

"Jerk," she muttered, an idle insult, and turned to go. A tug on one of her pigtails had her turning back with a huff. "Yes?"

"Kick some ass," he said, and smiled.

* * *

Please review!


	19. Chapter 12: Watch I

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 12 Watch (Part I)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 12 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk! 

* * *

Overhead the sky was clear. Pale, chilly blue without a cloud in sight. The vast emptiness of the world above them didn't matter much once they headed out, down the path, and mostly under the cover of the forest.

She was just glad that it wasn't raining. That would've been an awful way to start out for an exam. Like the weather itself was mocking them. Stretching idly, Ino fell into the easy run they would be travelling in.

They had to move quickly, to get there in time, but they didn't have to rush and this ground-eating pace would leave them tired but, for the sensei at least (and, she mentally added with a bit of a laugh, Rock Lee), not entirely wiped out should they be attacked along the way.

If anyone did attack them, though, Ino rather thought that they'd deserve the painful death they'd get. Who in their right mind would attack four Jounin and twelve Chuunin-hopefuls?

Hearing someone else's laughter had her glancing over to see a brunette who she didn't recognize talking to a guy who had to be her teammate. Ino made a note to get their names later. They had to stick together at least that much, even if it was a bit, well, odd to be travelling with so many of shinobi.

Ino glanced back over her shoulder, then ahead of her, and everywhere that she looked there were people with the hitae-ite of her village on their person. Back behind, hidden now in the trees was Konoha.

Shikamaru too. _Kick some ass_, he'd said. She definitely would. Not for him though—she'd do it because she could. Because she was strong enough this time. Had to be.

Shrugging a bit irritably, Ino focused her attention on Sakura and Chouji. "Hey," she said, "I was just thinking, but--what about our teamwork? We're going to need it for the first few exams at the very least."

They'd all gone through on exam before after all. This time they weren't the rookies.

Sakura looked thoughtful. "If it's a survival test, there'll be no problems. None of us are stupid enough to fuss during that--survival is going to be different anyway, thanks to the change in location."

As Konoha nin, after all, they were far more versed in how to survive in the forests and the plains that surrounded them than anywhere else. But, as ninja, they had to be adaptable. That was true strength.

"Kumo's got mountains," Chouji noted, "it's surrounded by them. We're going to have a lot of stone and not that much in the way of green cover. At least, that's my guess."

Shooting him a quick smile, Ino reached up to tug at her small braids as she considered that. "Your dad's been teaching you earth jutsu, right?" she asked, voice so low that it wouldn't travel past them. There was no helping privacy, not on the road, not while they moved, but at the very least she could do her best to keep from making it easy for the others to figure it out.

Chouji nodded. "I'll fill you in later," he said easily. "But yeah--earth jutsu, and family jutsu mainly. We've also got everything Asuma-sensei's drilled us in."

"Teamwork teamwork teamwork?" Sakura teased them.

Ino tossed her head. "Teamwork," she parroted one of Asuma-sensei's lecture's at Sakura, "is one of the most important skills that any shinobi in the field has. It's not flashy, it's not a new jutsu to wow your friends with, but it'll keep your team alive, and get all of you home in one piece."

Asuma-sensei's laugh rolled over them. "Got it memorized?" he asked easily, falling back into pace with them.

She flushed slightly--it was a little embarrassing being caught out on something like that, considering that Ino probably shouldn't have been lecturing on teamwork. Not after the last few months as their team had struggled to put themselves back together. "It's important, Asuma-sensei," Ino said, almost defiantly.

"We're just trying to figure out what our weaknesses might be in the field during the exam," Chouji intervened quickly. "And we were discussing what we'd learnt in the last few months."

Truth, all of it. And yet not quite the spirit of it. Ino bit her tongue and let it go. Sakura blinked incredulously at her.

"That so?" Asuma-sensei asked, flicking out a cigarette and lighting it in one smooth motion. "What have you figured out so far?"

Sakura let out a sigh. "Survival will have to be figured out first," she said, green eyes still slightly narrowed at Ino. "We're not sure of what we'll be facing so we're discussing what we know of the terrain."

"Mountainous," Ino supplied. "But mostly rock. They don't have a huge amount of vegetation which puts us at a disadvantage because we're used to operating with the foliage and other greenery."

Asuma-sensei nodded, smoke from his cigarette spiraling into the air. "What about temperatures?"

"Depends on the location of the exams," Chouji answered. "The air will be thinner, and that means the base temperature will be cooler, but they're well known for their hot-springs in Lightning Country so we can't rule out high humidity."

"Which could mean that there's fog in the morning," she chimed in, thinking on her lessons with her father. "And in the evening."

"Weapons could be adversely affected." Sakura frowned. "Wire could get loose, rope definitely would with that much humidity in the air, and grips could get slick. All of that would affect our odds as well."

"Good," Asuma-sensei said, looking pleased. "Tell me what you'd do to anticipate those difficulties."

It was an order, not a request. Ino shared a look with Chouji and Sakura; they hadn't exactly planned on getting a lesson while they ran, but there was no use arguing about it when it was actually something useful.

And their sensei could help diffuse things if arguments got heated between her and Sakura. Ino wrinkled her nose slightly as Sakura started listing ways to deal with the humidity. She knew herself well enough to know that keeping her mouth shut was probably going to have to be a major thing to pay attention to during this.

After all, they'd always fought. Ever since Sakura had stepped out from her influence. Ino's lips curved slightly at that thought.

Chouji was mid-way through his opinion about how kunai might be affected when Ino glanced over at Asuma-sensei. "Our kunai shouldn't be too affected," she said, cutting across Chouji's comment. "If the temperatures are hitting Konoha standard then our weapons are adapted for that." She shrugged an apology at Chouji for interrupting him; he rolled his eyes at her and smiled.

"Good point," Sakura said, sounding slightly surprised.

Ino pretended she hadn't heard it. Cool, calm, and dignified. Seriously. Otherwise this team was so not going to work and if it didn't _anyway_ then she didn't want it to be her fault.

"It is," Asuma-sensei conceded. "How about the way the altitude will affect your bodies? The air is thinner up there."

"That'd make it harder to breathe," Chouji said, frowning at that. "And would be an additional burden during a fight, never mind just scouting and travelling."

"You'd adjust to it though," Sakura pointed out.

"Immediately?" Asuma-sensei asked, raising his eyebrows slightly.

"No," Sakura said, flushing slightly. "But if we make it to the finals, with the month between the semi-final exam and the public one, it shouldn't be an issue then."

"Yeah," Ino said dryly, "in a _month's_ time--at the finals."

Sakura glared daggers at her, drawing in breath to response, and Chouji put a warning hand on Ino's elbow.

"Can we spend one day without fighting?" he murmured.

Ino raised her eyebrows at him. "This," she assured him blithely, "isn't really a fight. This is a mild disagreement, so don't worry about it."

His sigh was resigned, but he took her at face value. And it was true, after all, she did much the same with Shikamaru all the time. A minor argument helped make time pass by quicker. At least, that was her theory and she was sticking to it.

She didn't say what they were all suddenly thinking, of course, that it was really up in the air if they'd even make it to the finals. All of their teams had been chosen for a reason, after all, and Ino had no doubt whatsoever that the other villages that were sending shinobi to be tested would have picked only the best and most ready to become Chuunin.

"What?" Sakura drawled insultingly. "You can't tell me that _you_ think we won't make it to the finals. I know you and your ego is bigger than your _head_."

Oh. Oh it was _on_.

"And yet, funnily enough," Ino said brightly, in that sharp-edged gleeful way that had Chouji slipping over to run with Asuma-sensei instead of being caught between the two of them. "My ego is still smaller than your _forehead_."

It was a mark in their favour, Ino admitted, as she bickered with Sakura and Asuma-sensei murmured something to Chouji, that they'd even _been_ chosen, and so young as they were compared to a lot of other Genin. All of the other teams going with them, from their own village even, were older.

Tenten's team was only a year older, but Ino knew how much she'd changed in a year and could only imagine what an additional year would have done to that, if she'd been in her place. The lecture seemed over for now, Asuma-sensei was smiling around his cigarette and Chouji was using his hands to explain something to their sensei; Ino waved Sakura off and stepped up her pace to fall into step with Tenten.

"Having fun, little bird?" Tenten asked, amused and shooting her a smile. "I think everyone in the camp heard you and Sakura going at it there. Anything serious?"

Ino shrugged and laughed, watching as Rock fell back to talk with Sakura. "Not really," she said easily. "It's more of a 'that's just what we do' sort of thing." Ever since Sakura had given back the ribbon, really. That had been when the fighting had started.

"That's going to make it interesting if you're out in playing hide-and-seek for days on end," Tenten observed. "It's unusual for a team dynamic like that to be viable."

"I know," she admitted, "but when push comes to shove, we'll do okay. We're used to watching each other's backs, even if it's only so we can mock the other for being weak enough to need rescue afterwards."

Which was true enough. Ino had certainly ribbed Sakura more than a little about the fight in the forest last time around. Cutting her hair, clinging to Uchiha, Ino still figured that a bit of mocking had been a good thing there. And Sakura had still let her near enough to trust with a pair of scissors, so there was that. Not everything had to be said with words, after all.

Tenten laughed. "I almost feel sorry for you guys."

"Almost?"

"Well," Tenten said slyly, "if you guys are fighting, then there's a better chance of my team getting through, so really I find it hard to fully sympathize."

"Puh-lease," Ino drawled, stretching her arms as she ran. "As if Hyuuga and Rock would let my team take out your team."

"And you think _I_ would?"

"No," she added hastily. "But everyone knows they're the heaviest hitters of the Genin along from Konoha. We've all got skills, but seriously, I wouldn't want either of those two to face off against me."

Tenten nodded, face relaxing. "That's true enough. Weapons, I know you can avoid with a fair bit of accuracy, but getting touched by Neji, or going hand-to-hand with Lee..."

Ino wrinkled her nose. "Exactly. They're not exactly my optimal sort of opponent. I'm not bad at Taijutsu, but I'm not anywhere in Rock's range. And fighting Hyuuga is always a major pain."

Jyuuken was totally a cheat, seriously. But Ino knew that, in this sort of exam, any sort of advantage you could gain over an opponent was a valid and applauded advantage. Not that that sort of thinking really helped on the side of those who had to face up against it.

"Yeah," she said, shaking her head. "I'd much rather go up against you, no offense. You're scary with the weapons, but I could put up a fight against them and know it."

"None taken," Tenten said meditatively. "I get that a fair bit, actually." Her grin sharpened. "People think I'm the weakest link of the team all the time, not realizing that Gai-sensei wouldn't allow any weak links. You, at least, are thinking about it and have gone up against me before. I can deal with that sort of opinion in that case."

Ino silently agreed with that. She didn't know Maito-sensei well, but from what she'd seen of him, and what Tenten had told her of their training sessions during their practices, she honestly doubted that he'd ever let any of his team hang on to an obvious weakness.

"Not like I don't get my share of dismissals either," Ino added. "I mean, seriously, Shikamaru was the only one of our group to make Chuunin, right? And so everyone acts like oh, she's just the girl, because I didn't even go and nearly get _killed_ on that mission. Chouji's left alone, you know, because no one is going to say anything about how he's had to pretty much start over from scratch and work his way back up after--after."

And the look on Ino's face said very clearly that anyone who messed with him that way was going to be dealing with _her_.

"But me, it's like, most people just go 'oh, and they've got a girl on their team too, what's her name?' and all of that."

"Just like that," Tenten agreed, then gave her a sidelong look. "But maybe the kids around our age are saying things like that, but it does seem like you've been causing a few waves higher up."

Ino blinked at her. "I guess so," she said, a bit dubiously. "I mean, I know that I've been doing well, and Hokage-sama said 'good work' on my last mission, that was a total bitch you've got no idea, but I'm not, like, anything super--I'm not a major genius."

"You don't have to be to get attention," Tenten laughed. "That's really Lee's whole work ethic in a nutshell. Just--I don't know if you've noticed, but you've improved a _lot_ since the last exam, and people notice that sort of hard work."

Normally Ino was perfectly content to preen and accept compliments as her due (Sakura's comments about her ego were not entirely based in fiction, after all) but this made her feel a little weirdly shy.

"I just got tired of being left behind," she said finally. "There's not a whole lot more to it than that."

Tenten's smile was soft. "I think you're doing a good job then. Keep it up."

Ino's eyes narrowed slightly in determination. "I was planning to."

* * *

Sakura was seated on her bedroll, hunched over a scroll with posture that would make anyone but a teenager cry, and studying it intently. She knew that when it came to offensive jutsu she was weak still--Tsunade-shishou had been more focused on getting her chakra up high enough that she could utilize medical jutsu, and then when they'd gotten closer to the exam, now that she thought back on it, the focus had shifted more to her taijutsu.

_Tsunade-shishou,_ Sakura thought wryly, _had known I'd be taking the exam from the start._ She wasn't sure how she felt about that; it could have backfired if Ino had put her foot down and refused to play her part.

Lifting her head, Sakura glanced across the camp to see where Ino actually was. The blonde was chattering at Tenten while the dark-haired girl looked to be cleaning a few of her weapons.

_Where were you last night?_ Sakura thought, but didn't voice. For one, voicing that thought across their campground would get her no answers and draw way too much attention. It didn't stop her from wondering, though, and considering that the only reason she even knew that Ino hadn't been in bed the whole night was because she'd woken up to get a drink and noticed her friend gone… Sakura knew that Ino had no intentions of just being open with it.

The fact that Ino looked tired, despite her presumed cheer, just gave her more to think about. Sakura shoved her hair back out of her face and glanced at the sky. Another half an hour and then they'd move out. Time enough to study a bit more then. She had no time to waste when it came to that.

Just about to go back to her scroll, she paused as a shadow fell across her light. "Sakura-kun?"

Giving him a bit of a grin, she looked up at Chouji. "Hey," she said, "what's up?"

He settled down near her and followed her gaze over to where Ino was. "She looks like crap," Chouji observed, his words not hiding his worry at all.

Sakura's lips twitched and she fought the urge to laugh at that. Ino would go _spare_ if she ever heard that Chouji had said that about her. "I don't think she's sleeping well," Sakura replied instead. "She wasn't in her bed for a good part of the night."

Chouji's grimace deepened. "Any idea what's up with her?"

Shaking her head, Sakura considered her scroll, then rolled it up. Half an hour could be spared talking to him--she'd just study a little later that night to make up the time. "She hasn't even admitted there's anything going on," Sakura said, making a bit of a face at that. "Actually, she spends most of her time hanging around Tenten-san. I didn't know they were that good of friends."

It was sort of--weird. Her not knowing. Sakura wasn't sure how she felt about that considering that she'd been living with Ino for the last few months. She had to admit that, for all Ino's talking and chattering, Ino was pretty good at keeping her own counsel.

"They train together a fair bit," Chouji answered. "I guess it started back when they both were covering for Chuunin at the Academy."

Nodding, as that was an explanation that made sense, Sakura tucked her scroll away into her pack. "I wonder if she knows, then?"

"I doubt she'd tell me," Chouji said, sighing. "Ino doesn't tell anyone anything unless she's got enough trust in them to know that they're not going to spill it at the first question--and I barely know Tenten-san at all. I know Neji and Lee a bit better, but we're not very close at all."

"Not surprising," she commented, echoing his sigh. "They're out on missions a lot and you've been training to get your strength back. There's no shame in that."

"It's not about shame." He wasn't looking at her right now, still gazing off in Ino's direction. "Did you hear what Shikamaru said to Ino when we left?"

"I didn't," she admitted, "I was talking to Lee-san, and he's pretty--loud." It was true, and respecting him didn't change that fact at all.

Chouji's grin told her that he understood perfectly what she meant with that comment. Lee was--well, someone she respected, for sure, but he was also very very loud and excitable sometimes.

Well.

Most of the time. But Sakura, after a year of working with Naruto, was pretty good at dealing with 'loud and excitable' especially when Lee-san actually had her respect. Naruto did, these days, but he was her teammate. There was a different sort of dynamic to the respect.

"He said," Chouji continued on, "'kick some ass'."

Sakura considered that, and tilted her head at Ino as she tried to put that together with what else she knew about the whole situation that had developed between the two of them. "...isn't he the one who was telling her before that she wasn't good enough to teach and stuff?" she asked finally, looking away from Ino before the other girl caught on to the fact that she was being watched.

"Yeah," Chouji admitted. "I don't know what's changed--he hated the fact that our last mission Ino was the one who bore the brunt of it, did she tell you that?"

"No," she said, looking at Chouji. "She didn't."

He made a face. "I can't tell you very much," he said, "mission confidentiality and all of that, you know how it goes. But yeah, Ino got into some pretty hot water for a while there and we weren't able to do much to help her out."

"She got out though." Because that was--well, if she hadn't, then Sakura knew that this exam wouldn't have Ino even coming along. She doubted that Chouji would've either or... for that matter, if _she_ would have wanted to go. Shaking her head to clear it of those thoughts, Sakura rested one hand comfortingly on Chouji's arm. "She got clear of the situation on her own?"

"Mostly," Chouji said, smiling down at her hand. "We did help, but most of it was from her. We were a diversion, I suppose."

"What did Shikamaru think about that?" she wondered. "I know he had that whole thing with her needing to be protected while on missions."

Sakura knew _that_ from the way that Ino would come back from practise raging about the formations and plans that Shikamaru was coming up with. She didn't mention to Chouji that sometimes Ino had been so angry that she'd cried and then promptly flung herself even further into her studies.

"I don't know," Chouji admitted. "This whole thing as been one big game of 'who can keep the best secrets' so I'm working on just how well I know the both of them. Shikamaru wasn't happy about any of it--and I don't think he was happy about how the mission was swung even if it all worked out in the end either."

"But he still wished her well for the exam." Sakura tucked a strand of hair back behind one ear and considered that. It was a bit odd, all things considered—almost sweet, now that she thought about it. "I don't know--do you think he meant it?"

Chouji looked thoughtful. "I think that... he did," he said finally. "Shikamaru doesn't lie very often."

That was interesting to know, she thought, pulling a strand of her hair out in front of her face before shoving it back. "I didn't know that," Sakura commented, mostly so that she could say something, anything, rather than go back to just brooding on what was up with Ino.

How could she do this when they had an exam in a hostile foreign country to go through? Ino had the worst timing ever and, Sakura added wryly, was probably the best out of all of them at avoiding a topic when she didn't want to talk about it. That was going to make things a bit of a pain, really.

"Well," Chouji laughed quietly, "it's not like you hung around him much in the Academy."

"No," she had to admit that, "I was busy with other things." Other boys, trying to beat Ino, trying to ignore Naruto, trying to make up for the weaknesses of being a first generation shinobi... "Don't you think it's kind of weird how much has changed in a year and a half?"

Had it really only been that long? It felt like it should've been a great deal longer but that was what the calendar said when she looked at it. So much had happened and some of it was good, a lot of it was good even, but then there was so much bad that her memories were mixed together.

"It's been pretty crazy," he answered her. Glancing over at him, Sakura wasn't surprised to see that he looked calm. "But I think that's a good thing, don't you? We've learnt a lot, and we've got better friends this time, now, than we did last year."

There was no way that she could argue with that. Sakura knew that, now that she looked back on her Academy days, that she'd never really had many friends--Ino's friends, for a while, and then she'd deliberately separated herself from them. Then with her team...

Naruto had taken her a good while to warm up to, he wasn't her type at all, not for a friend, but now that he was one, she knew that she had him for life as a friend. Sakura's smile went a bit rueful; a friend, even if he wanted more than that. Uchiha Sasuke...

Shaking her head, Sakura pushed thoughts of her former teammate and Kakashi-sensei from her mind. Uchiha, once Sasuke-kun to her, was a minefield of emotions and she didn't want to deal with that right now. And Kakashi-sensei... she didn't know what to think these days when it came to him.

Tsunade-shishou had shown her what a good teacher really was. She'd learnt more in the last six months than she had in the year before that and some days Sakura wondered if it had just been because he'd been so focused on Sasuke-kun that he hadn't even cared what she did. But that was uncharitable.

"We do," she said, realizing that Chouji was waiting for and answer, and making a mental note to talk to Kakashi-sensei about that when they got back to Konoha. It was something, Sakura realized, that she wanted answers to. "I mean," she continued, a grin growing on her face. "I'm friends with you now, right?"

The look on his face was utterly worth the effort of saying that. It was true too.

* * *

Tucking her hair back with her hitae-ite she slipped out of her house, careful to avoid making noise near Sayuri's—her younger sister—room. Tsubaki wasn't in the mood to deal with Sayuri's fighting this morning.

And not in the mood to fight back, as her sister expected her to. Tsubaki wanted the quiet peace of the morning to last just a little longer. Trotting down the street, she waved to those who she recognized, and headed out for the practice fields.

The practice area was like many of their areas: rocky, and all one shade of it to boot. There was a small stream of water at the far end, but other than that it was pretty much their standard. Trees were less common in Kumogakure, and weren't to be wasted on areas where the ninja practicing could easily kill them. No, the foliage was mainly concentrated in areas where there was more likely to be chakra control practices, or a lecture-type lesson.

For them, though, this area was the best, even if she was going to be studying genjutsu. Taka needed to practice is taijutsu—Yukio-sensei had promised to help him—and Masanori wanted to try out a new Katon jutsu that he'd been reading up on.

That suited Tsubaki just fine.

It was a study day today, rather than a mission, or anything else, so while Taka was practicing his forms under the watchful eye of Yukio-sensei, and Masanori was studying from a scroll, Tsubaki settled herself down, back to a rock, and closed her eyes.

Though it probably looked like it, if she were seen by someone who wasn't a ninja, she wasn't slacking off at all. There was a certain order to things and before she could practice her genjutsu Tsubaki had to make sure her mind was carefully ordered.

She had a fair bit to consider, after all. Especially with the Chuunin exams starting in only a few days. Her smile turned slightly wry. Sayuri was determined to turn the exam into another of their competitions. Tsubaki just wished that her slightly younger sister would grow out of that need soon enough--faster rather than slower as it was--and waited eagerly for the day when that happened.

It wasn't her fault, after all, for having been born eleven minutes before Sayuri and thus been made the heir to their clan.

Not, Tsubaki admitted, that she was eager to give up her position as heir, even if Sayuri was showing a marked preference for their family skills rather than Tsubaki's rather lackluster interest in them but that wasn't something that was a useful thought right now.

Not when she had to focus her mind on the illusion she wanted to create.

A lot of the genjutsu that she'd looked up had been of the nightmare sort--people who'd believe that their limbs were being melted off, people who'd see their loved ones tortured in front of them and fully believe that there was nothing they could do but answer the questions poised to stop it.

Those weren't very interesting to her. Tsubaki smiled, forming the chakra needed for the first step of her own jutsu. Her hands slid through the seals that controlled this jutsu with ease that spoke of long practice. As it should; she'd been working on this one for years.

A flickering butterfly appeared in the air in front of her, glittering with the chakra that gave it the appearance of life. Wings of wavering blue and pink kept it afloat. As it fluttered around her head Tsubaki added a few more of the butterflies, as many as she could without feeling over whelmed—thirteen, she noted, up one from last week, that was an improvement—and let her breath out in a sigh.

Her genjutsu relied on, rather than horror, dreams.

Not the dreams that came while you slept, no. But rather the ones that crept through your mind while you were lost in work, lost in thought, the ones that gave pleasure and distraction from whatever mundane task was on-going. Daydreams. It seemed almost a gentle sort of genjutsu—her sister certainly took it as such, with her scathing comments, but Tsubaki had long since learnt to give as good as she got back because to do otherwise would only make her look bad.

And looking bad was something that had to be avoided, personal inclinations or not. Brushing back her hair, some if it always escaped from her hitae-ite, Tsubaki carefully, through her chakra instructed the butterflies to lift off and fly further away from her. Sweat trickled down her face as the effort she was exerting took its toll on her—controlling so many chakra constructs was not an easy task, especially not when, under usual circumstances, it only took one or two to achieve the same effect on a person.

But Tsubaki didn't want to ensnare only one person in her genjutsu at a time. If it was going to be really useful, then it was going to have to have a wider range of impact, and that meant, in short:

Practice, practice, practice.

It was the root of everything, that. Tsubaki understood that well, knowing that it wasn't simply a matter of natural selection or anything like that--no matter how strong a base you were given by an accident of birth there was no point to it at all if there was nothing ventured to keep the base strong.

Make it stronger. She set her chin stubbornly as the butterflies flew further and further away from her. Tsubaki sent them dancing up above her head. Five feet, ten feet, fifteen feet--and then, almost panting with the effort, she forced them even further.

Thirteen of them was a number that was definitely draining her reserves quickly. Tsubaki knew that, had it been in a real situation, that using this many would have been a last ditch effort.

But that was why she worked on it. If she could get the distance, get the range, _then_ her jutsu would be one that would make people wary of coming across her at all. It wasn't the same as what her family would have her do, but Tsubaki, at fifteen, knew well her own limits.

This was more her style. Beautiful, graceful, and deadly.

It was easy, after all, to end the threat of someone while they were so wrapped up in the day dreams her butterflies plunged them into that the real world was the one that seemed like a hazy dream.

"That's enough, Tsubaki-chan," Yukio-sensei called. "Take a breather and stretch out. You're low on chakra."

"Yes!" she gasped out, and began the process of dispersing her creations. If done right she could reclaim a tiny bit of chakra to help shore up the sudden weakness brought about by the end of the jutsu. Weaknesses, though, could be corrected.

Letting the last butterfly go, Tsubaki let out a sigh and leaned back against the rock.

"Here," Masanori said, offering her a canteen. "You probably need it."

Her lips curved into a smile. "Thanks," Tsubaki said, greedily drinking from it. "How did it look?"

He was the best of them, after all, at spotting weaknesses from the outside. Masanori slid down the rock to sit next to her, pulling out a pad of paper as he did so. "I was thinking about the wings," he began, and she leaned forward to listen.

In the background, Taka and Yukio-sensei continued their practice. It was just another day.

Seven days until the Chuunin exam. They'd be ready for it.

* * *

There was no light.

That fact reached her slowly. It was alright, at first, before it sunk in. At that point, at first, the darkness was almost soothing, the fact that she was bundled up seemed safe, and the lack anyone else to keep her company was something that just didn't occur to her anything needed to be worried about. It just doesn't hit her radar as anything important. Nothing was important in this darkness.

It's safe, somehow.

As she kept on going, moving, and now she was walking even though there was another part of her that is still bundled up--_how,_ a small, more awake part of her mind protested, _can she be walking and yet bundled up_--as she moved and that's when things start getting just a little weird.

The ground, inky dark and smooth as silk, started feeling more like dirt. Like rock. There were little bits and pieces of gravel under her feet and now they were stinging at her knees—

she crawled along, only determination keeping her going

—and there's nothing around her but rock and darkness. It pressed down on her, crushing her, and she couldn't breathe but can't stop either.

On and on she moved, somehow still alive; there's something wrong--her hands bleed but all the pain is in her back and her hair is long now. Far longer than it was during the mission and it's so blonde that it almost glows in the dark. She could see it even though she can't see anything else—not even her hands. Loose and her hair spills down her shoulders, tangling her knees and hands until she was sliding down a rock slide and bruised and bleeding everywhere.

_Pain_.

She's still struggling, still breathing, still moving and trying to crawl but then she's also walking and there's chains on her hands—bandages cover her mouth and that's why she can't scream and there's tears creeping down her face as a deep sullen rumble splits the air, splits the dark, and there's nothing but rock coming for h--

Ino jerked awake sharply, rolling over onto her stomach and then struggling to get out of her bedroll. Trying to be quiet, trying not to get the attention of anyone else, even as tears trickled down her face and her breathing was coming in harsh, short pants.

"Yamanaka." It was Hyuuga, and she closed her eyes as his sandals came into her view.

"Go away," she rasped, forcing arms that were trembling with residual fear to support her as she fought out of her sleeping bag and revelled in the feel of air against her shaking limbs. Air is more than what she had in her nightmare. "I'm fine."

She could feel him staring at her, didn't want to look up to see his expression, and despised herself for being so weak. The nightmares hadn't been much while at home--it was hard to have bad dreams when everything was normal, usual, and things were soft and warm and even if she did wake up it only took a few seconds to confirm that her dad and mom were around before she could drift back to sleep.

Adult in the eyes of the village, yes, but Ino was still deeply glad for her parents. They stabilized her, secured her, gave her safety even when there was none to be had.

Then Hyuuga knelt down in front of her, one hand cool when pressed on her forehead. Ino flinched at the unexpected contact and blinked up at him. His face was unreadable to her; she wondered if it was to Tenten and Rock. Ino just didn't know him well enough to see beyond his mask.

"You're not fine," he said in a low tone of voice. "Get up and walk with me. You won't be able to sleep while in a state like that."

He spoke as if from experience, Ino swallowed the urge to retort when she remembered that he, too, had nearly died while out on a mission. She wondered if that gave him nightmares. "I," she said, hands trembled still despite her attempts to quell their movement--and that did nothing for the few leaked tears that she angrily brushed away. "You're on watch, then? I can--help."

That idea was more palatable than the one that suggested he didn't need help and was being kind. Ino could only hope that this would go unremarked by the others travelling with them. It was probably too much to hope for that the Jounin hadn't woken up, but if she were lucky Sakura and Chouji wouldn't have noticed...

She reached for her sandals, glad that they hadn't been too misplaced in her tossing and turning, and slipped them on before Ino forced herself to her feet, pretending that Hyuuga didn't need to steady her when she nearly turned her ankle on a rock and had to bite down a shriek because that hit just too close to her nerves right now.

Thank _goodness_ the exam wasn't being held in Iwa, she thought fervently. There was no way she'd have been able to handle that.

It was a blow to her pride, that fact, but Ino couldn't deny it. In the three days they'd been out of Konoha, she'd discovered just how little control she had over her thoughts while she slept. And that was when the rock, the creeping pressure that made it impossible for her to breathe always came back.

If she knocked on the ceiling in her dreams would it all fall down on her? Shuddering, Ino decided that she didn't want to know. "I can walk," she said, when he didn't show any inclination to remove his hand from her elbow. "It wasn't anything--big."

Just the dirt and the dark and the pain. Her hands ached with the memory. Shaking them out, she watched as he raised one eyebrow. The Byakugan was active now; she said nothing as he looked right at her, knowing that he was seeing more her circulatory system than anything else.

"There's no chakra irregularities," he said instead, turning his head away while checking out the area.

"Of course not," she muttered back, keeping her voice low. "It was just a bad dream, okay? It wasn't anything more than that."

"It's a poor time to start having dreams," he said, not rising to her bait.

Ino narrowed her eyes at him. "Not like it was my _idea_, Hyuuga-san."

The faintest hint of what was almost a smile brushed his face before disappearing. "I suppose," he acknowledged. "Nonetheless, the fact remains that your ill-timed dreams may prove to make the exam more difficult."

"Oh goody," she murmured, keeping an eye out for rocks and wondered what he was getting at. Why was he even talking to her? They didn't get along; they'd never talked before or anything.

There. That was a much better thing to ponder than--than what she had going on in her head right now. "Why're you even bothering?" she asked. "I mean, it's not like my losing is going to affect you at all. In fact, if I fall out of the running, then your odds are better."

"And Konoha loses the prestige of the fact that our women are as strong as our men." He shook his head.

That... was so not an answer. "Uh," Ino said, "I mean, great, I'm totally strong in my own way--but you're, like, _you_." Not her most articulate comment ever, but Ino was going with the fact that it was late and she'd just woken from a nightmare and was talking to someone who... had never paid her any attention before to excuse it.

Besides, the way he sort of winced at that sentence was worth it.

"What I can do," he noted, "has little bearing on what you can do. The more Konoha nin who make it to the final exam and are seen to be strong the better we come out of this situation. Kumogakure is unlikely to be doing this for fun."

"Or for peace," she said shrewdly. "I mean, that makes sense why Hinata-chan wasn't sent along. She'd be too big a prize, and Hokage-sama wouldn't allow it even if Hyuuga-sama _did_." Which she doubted, really, after the effort of trying to shove Hinata into a marriage she didn't want.

He looked mildly startled.

"I do manage to keep up with Shikamaru," she informed him. "I'm not stupid."

His smile was less brief this time. "I wouldn't have thought you'd be sent along if you were."

As compliments went, it wasn't huge, but at the same time--it was from him and he was a genius. Ino would count it as a fairly big one. "Which way did you want to patrol?" she asked instead of saying anything that might end up only embarrassing them both.

"This way," he said, taking a left into the trees and undergrowth. She followed him on silent feet, making a face when she realized that her hair was probably totally a mess thanks to sleeping. She was in a forest with Hyuuga Neji, alone, and her hair was a mess.

_That's it_, she thought, _I've totally lost my girl cred_. Ino snickered quietly.

"Something amusing?" he asked dryly.

Ino gave him innocent eyes. "Utterly nothing."

He 'hmm'd' like he didn't believe her and they walked in silence. Mindful of the fact that they were technically patrolling, Ino tried to keep her focus on having a look out but the fact that the darkness lurked everywhere--under leaves, and snuggled up beneath the canopy of branches--and the fact that there were rocks, she wasn't getting much less jumpy.

Nearly tripping, again, she swallowed when Hyuuga stopped and glanced back at her. "Are you alright?"

She was fine, she was _fine_. "I'm alright," Ino said tightly, "it's just the woods. I'm being stupid." There was no reason for the dark to be freaking her out. She _was_ being stupid. Ino wished she knew how to quit it.

"I dream of falling," Hyuuga answered, walking on.

Ino puzzled over that, struggling to figure out what that was supposed to mean—oh. Nightmares, right? Had to be. Was she supposed to say something in response to that? It wasn't like he was being cruel or anything. He was... nice. If she freaked out here then it'd be only him who'd know.

"The dark crushes me," she said finally, "and there's nothing but rocks and pressure until I can't breathe."

He paused, just for a split second, then continued on. "Last mission?" his voice smooth and almost incurious.

Ino was grateful for the seeming detachment. "Something like that," she said, "bit of a tunnel problem, really. I--don't think I'll like them for a while." Or the dark, or really anything that had anything to do with rocks and crawl spaces.

"Did you still manage to accomplish your mission?" he asked, and somehow it sounded like he was actually interested in the answer.

Because of that she thought about a bit more than she probably would have had he seemed to just be asking to make conversation--though since when did Hyuuga, this one at least, talk just to make conversation? She was definitely going to have to ask Tenten about it when they were on the road later that day.

Ino considered his question seriously while she wrapped her arms around her torso, trying to stay warm. It was a bit chilly, this late at night, and she hadn't bothered to throw on a cloak. No way was she going to complain though.

You didn't complain about the temperature to Hyuuga Neji. That was just--not what happened. It was totally unfathomable. Just not done. Besides, it wasn't like anyone died from temperatures like this. It was just a bit uncomfortable.

"Yeah," she said finally, "we did. It wasn't an in and out mission, it was a stick around for a while sort, and by the time things wound up fucked up we'd gotten what was needed."

Information that Oto was sticking their nose into things that didn't concern them. Ino didn't know the whole story behind all of that and given her security clearance wasn't surprised. She wondered idly how much her 'Onee-san' knew about everything that had gone on after the fact.

"Then you'll recover from your nightmares," he said matter-of-factly. "It'll fade in time because you've got something to put against it as balance."

Ino tilted her head at him. "Does that work for you?" she blurted. "Because--you're talking from experience, so I..."

She had no clue. It was too late for this. Ino bit her lip and continued pacing beside him.

"It helps," he answered finally, shaking his head. "Anything beyond that is up to you. What works well for me may not work for other people the same way. I can only imagine, though, what failure would mean to a nightmare like that."

Ino didn't even _want_ to imagine that. Ever. For one, she'd be _dead_. What sort of dreams did the dead have?

Swallowing hard, she tucked a strand of hair behind one ear and debated if her next question was actually worth it. She didn't want to piss him off, or anything, but if he was going to be out here and answering questions then it was sort of hard to want to hold back from being, well, rather impudent with her words.

"What are you thinking about?" his voice broke in on her thoughts. Almost amused she noted, and wondered what was funny about her thinking.

"Uh." Ino shrugged and decided that, really, she might as well ask because even if he got pissed it wasn't like she couldn't bolt for the camp and the Jounin would surely not let him kill her or anything, right? "Well, I mean, you're talking about triumphs and stuff to hold against nightmares, right?"

Last chance to back out, her mind warned. Ino ignored it. She was pretty good at ignoring warnings when it suited her to.

"But, didn't you, like, fail the mission that you probably dream about?" Ino wasn't sure how 'falling' worked into that, but it sounded a bit like something that Shikamaru might say and Ino knew that it wasn't a mission that would be easily forgotten. "Didn't you--fail and barely make it back alive?"

There were probably more diplomatic ways to have worded that, but diplomacy wasn't Ino's strong point at crazy o'clock at night. She tugged at her hair, wishing it was longer, and waited for him to say something, anything, to her question. Ino wondered what Shikamaru would say if she asked him that.

She wondered if she'd ever have the courage for that; asking Shikamaru. _Didn't you, like, fail?_ Ino didn't want to know what dreams haunted him--not when it still burned that he'd left her behind. Feeling sorry for him, in that moment, wasn't ever on her list of things to want to do. Ino wasn't trying to be cruel, but she had her reasons for being angry and they were, to her, perfectly valid ones.

It didn't mean that she wanted her feelings undermined by the fact that he was having issues. Ino wasn't that kind. Or that forgiving. Maybe, in a few years, she'd get around to asking him and be able to expect an answer that wasn't going to hurt her or unsettle her. While she thought, her mind flowing like a waterfall, Hyuuga continued his walking, his patrolling.

She followed, of course. Ino was well aware that he'd likely spot anything long before she did--his eyes were designed for that, after all--but that didn't mean she was going to be just utterly useless if anything _did_ happen.

And, in all honesty, it was curiosity that compelled her on.

Ino wanted to see if he'd give her some sort of answer or if he'd just ignore it and hope that she never brought it up again.

_Fat chance_, she thought, giving him a sidelong glance. _I don't give up easy. Ask anyone._

* * *

Please review!


	20. Chapter 12: Watch II

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 12 Watch (Part II)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 12 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk!

* * *

Hyuuga let out a sigh; Ino kept her eyes trained to the side while she mentally wondered if he had something for her now, or if it was just a sigh of 'oh geez, I can't believe she's asking me this, what a stupid little girl' which was always a possibility.

"It was a failure," he said, eventually. "But it was also a triumph."

Ino dragged her gaze over to stare at him. That sort of answer really required it, she felt. "How can it be both?" she asked, trying to figure that one out. It didn't make that much sense to her, in all honesty. "I mean, isn't it one way or the other? You guys were supposed to get the Uchiha back 'cause he was an utter idiot."

She wasn't very charitable towards him, no. Ino had nearly lost her team. She didn't have to be. Crush or not crush, if she saw him again, she was going to hurt him. Just for that. How dare he be so selfish as to hurt others who had nothing to do with his situation? She didn't understand that at all.

There was the mental impression of Hyuuga carefully thinking through his words. Ino studied him the best she could in the low light and decided that he didn't seem to be angry or anything. That was a relief, at least. It would probably be bad form to piss off someone who you were going to have to count as amongst the few you could trust during the exam.

Not trust to not try their hardest against you, of course, but Ino knew that when the exam came down to 'what teams to take out' that the Konoha nin weren't going to be aiming for each other. It wasn't like the last exam where they'd aimed for everyone even if they were from the same village or not.

This time, as strangers in a strange land, they had to stick together. In their own way.

"It was a triumph," Hyuuga stated, "because I set myself a task, and that I accomplished. I made it so there was one less keeping the others from accomplishing their tasks."

Ino glanced at him, eyes puzzled. "So you're--happy 'cause what you did, you did good, even if the whole thing didn't work out?" Somehow, that logic wasn't making sense to her.

To her surprise, he laughed softly. She hadn't even known he _could_ laugh.

She blinked at him. "What?"

"I agree," he answered, "it isn't something that really makes a great deal of sense on the surface of things. I only know what feels right to my emotions, and that's what they tell me, even if the facts don't entirely hold it up."

"Were you scared?" Ino asked, not really sure what she wanted to hear from him now. "During it—whatever happened, I mean?"

He paused and looked at her. "You don't really know, do you?"

She bristled despite her general unease at the whole situation. Ino never liked people talking down to her. Frowning at him, she hopped up onto a branch that had fallen over the trail they were walking, and glanced down at him.

"Know what?" Ino asked, giving in to her curiosity. It was a cruel master, really, and she was its target for sure. "What're you so surprised about?"

It wasn't like--was there anything that she really needed to know already? Ino didn't think so. There wasn't a whole lot of the mission that she'd been allowed to know, after all, and she'd known better than to press her team for more information.

There were some things that you didn't do. And she hadn't been, to be perfectly honest, entirely motivated to press and pry. Ino didn't need to know the details of how they'd all almost died. Didn't want to know that.

He studied her face, Ino met his eyes, wondering how Hinata's could look so serene or shy and his could look so cold when they were both pupil-less with irises that blended with the whites of their eyes. Something to think about. Anything to think about. She was getting tired now.

"What do you know about the mission?" he asked finally, giving her a look that she couldn't rightly decipher.

Ino shrugged. "I know that Shikamaru was leader," she said, hopping down from the branch and keeping her balance easily even in the uncertain dark. Take that nightmares, she wasn't surrounded by rock or being crushed by the darkness. "I know that he was given the position of choosing his team."

She was proud of the way that her voice came out level and even.

"I know that he picked you, Uzumaki, Chouji, and Inuzuka." Still even, that was better. It didn't make her any happier though, but Ino was starting to think that she'd never be happy about that situation. "I know that Rock wound up joining you sometime later."

How that had happened she still didn't know. But Ino, from what little she knew about Rock, couldn't help but admit that she wasn't very surprised to find that he'd gone out on a mission like that even if he had been supposed to be resting in the hospital at that point. She wondered, sometimes, what would've happened had she done the same thing. Just--gone along.

"I know that the mission was to go after Uchiha and bring him back." Ino didn't bother to pretend she was happy at that. "And I know that the mission failed, that Chouji and you nearly died. That Kiba was in critical condition, and Uzumaki wasn't thought to survive."

She tugged viciously at her hair, only to be surprised when he reached out and forced her hand down. "You'll hurt yourself," Hyuuga said, removing his hand from hers.

Ino blinked at him, wondering if she ought to tell him that that was sort of the point--that it gave her something to focus on. That it made her feel less like screaming as she recounted what little she knew. He didn't look like he was going to say anything more, so Ino took a deep breath and continued on.

"I know that Shikamaru broke his fingers," she said, and if her voice was less cool now, Ino was going to blame it on the fact that she really didn't get this at all. "I know that the Suna team from the exam rescued him, Rock, Uzumaki and Inuzuka."

Another moment, while she tried to figure out if she knew anything more. Ino was drawing a blank and eventually said, "That's all."

It was a pathetically small bit of knowledge, she knew it, and even that much she'd only gotten by keeping her eyes and ears open while in the hospital. No one could resist discussing everything that had been going on, and even with shinobi confidentiality going on there were some things that would just slip through the cracks of family visiting, of friends stopping by to chat, of people just there for another reason and happening to overhear something.

"Hm," he said, and she tried to figure out what he was thinking. Had he taken a course in Stoicism 101? Because, seriously, reading him was hard. Especially in the dark. "You know a fair bit, all things considered."

"I am trained for spying," she said, even though she'd been thinking just the opposite and that really what she knew wasn't much at all.

"True," Hyuuga conceded, shaking his head. "That was a compliment, Yamanaka. Not an insult. Most of that mission has been thoroughly classified and we've been told not to talk about it lightly."

She glanced sideways at him. "I don't know why, then, you'd be complimenting me," Ino informed him, "not when I'm learning things that aren't my business to know."

"Aren't they?" he asked neutrally. "I don't know if you really believe that."

"Would you?" Ino demanded. "If you were in my place would you just meekly accept that 'oh, hey, sorry but your clearance sucks and your teammates almost died but oh well, we can't tell you anything' because that's pretty much exactly what happened. I hadn't even known they were _out of the village_ until Chouji came back nearly dead and Shikamaru came back all--weird."

He didn't mind her snapping. Ino had no clue what to make of that. It was seriously like talking to some sort of freaking talking wall. Where was the passion and anger he'd shown in the first fight of the finals the last time around?

Though, on reflection, she didn't really want him angry like that at her. She was no Uzumaki to have special powers and be able to match him in pure power. Skill, Ino knew he was considered a genius, but wasn't she in her own field considered to be a bit of one as well?

Best kunoichi in over a decade in the traditional arts. That was something that counted, wasn't it?

"I don't know how I'd react," he said, interrupting her thoughts. Ino snapped back to attention to make sure she heard what he was saying. He spoke quietly, even in the dark, never forgetting that they were on patrol or that other people might hear them.

She flushed, a bit, at that. She'd totally forgotten that and, considering that she was going to be trying for Chuunin (trying and, her mind insisted firmly, making), Ino knew that she had to pay more attention to things than that. Don't let your temper control you, her father always said.

It was both a gift and a curse. Ino wondered how he managed as well as he did.

"I don't know," Hyuuga repeated, and she had the sense that he was picking his words carefully. "Because I've never been in that situation."

"Of course not," she said, wrapping her arms around her waist. "Because you're a genius and I'm just the girl."

He blinked at her, honestly surprised. "The girl?"

Ino stared at him. "You've got a mind, right? How many girls do you hear being called genius these days? If it's not pure power, it barely even registers in our age group. We've got some major heavy hitters, you and Rock included--hell, Uzumaki totally included--but because of that, when it comes to other skills we're sort of left in the dark."

Perhaps it wasn't fair to drop that on him, but he was the one who'd come and talked to her and was volunteering in a weird way to help her stay awake from her dreams. Well, she was awake now. He was possibly regretting that.

"What," Hyuuga asked, looking down at her. "Does that have to do with anything?"

"We don't matter because we're just kunoichi," she snapped at him. "And if you say that that's not what's been going on then I suggest you take a good hard look at what everyone else has been doing and saying."

She was being irrational. Distantly, Ino knew that. Most of her didn't care: it was too late, she was unsettled from her dreams, and well, it was something that she very rarely dared to give voice too but had been seething in the back of her mind for quite awhile.

"I mean," she continued on in the face of Hyuuga's blank look, "look at how many girls got to go along on your mission. None, right?" Ino waved one hand at his look at that. "I know, I know, that Sand girl--"

"Temari," Hyuuga interjected. Ino wondered how many names he bothered to remember.

"Right, her," Ino said, on a roll now. "I mean, she got sent along because Hokage-sama sent the whole team along. But Shikamaru didn't choose her. Didn't choose any girls and I don't think, honestly, that any of the guys who'd gone on that would have if they'd been in the same situation."

She met his eyes steadily. "Unless, of course, you'd like to prove me wrong? The mission called for pure power which I'll admit that, especially at this stage of training, isn't as even between guys and girls as it will be, but can you seriously tell me that, had it been even, you would've picked any girl to go?"

It wasn't just about her, though Shikamaru, well that issue was--Ino knew that. But this, she thought was something that she actually did want an answer to.

To her surprise, Hyuuga looked thoughtful rather than mad. It made her put her opinion of him up a few notches.

"I'd like an answer, if you don't mind," she said, now sounding just a bit tired. "But--not right now. It's way too late for thinking."

He actually laughed softly, startling her. "Too late," Hyuuga agreed. "And we've got patrol to finish...?"

Ino lifted her chin at the implied question of 'was she going to ditch him now' or, possibly, 'was she going to head back to camp and get some sleep' and told her body sternly that it could totally do this and not freak out.

"Lead the way," she said. She _could_ do this.

Take that, nightmares.

* * *

Sakura sighed, and stretched, arms up over her head as they paused for a break—only thirty minutes, but that was enough of a cool down for any of them, really, and shook her hair out. It was nice to be able to not have to be running.

Only a few days out of Konoha and she sick of running. Sakura wondered what that meant about her when it was a fact that shinobi had to run an _awful lot_ over the course of their careers. Maybe they were all just really sick of it and pretended to not be? That was a thought.

Though, Sakura reconsidered that, Lee-san was laughing as he talked, gesturing wildly to Maito-sensei, neither of them seeming to be tired at all. Ino was falling into place to drag Tenten away from her team—which was probably a good thing for Lee-san, all things considered, from the way that Tenten-san tended to react when Lee-san got too much on her nerves. Neither of them looked all that bad off either.

She wondered if she was the only one sick of running. That was a bit… depressing… if that was the case.

"Sakura-kun!" carolled a voice and then the next thing that Sakura knew she was getting clung to. She had a brief moment to wonder if this was how Uchiha had felt when he'd gotten tackled by either her or Ino. "I missed you!"

She blinked, startled, and then had to laugh as she realized who was hugging her. "Ima-san!" Sakura said, smiling as she hugged the older girl back. "I didn't know you were taking this exam."

Nakamura Ima took a step back and tossed her head, dark blue hair in pigtails swinging with the movement and grinned. "Shows what you know," Ima teased, "considering that you're Hokage-sama's apprentice, then. We got picked--Yasuo and Akira are here too."

"That's good to hear," Sakura said, smiling. "I didn't mean to lose track of you but things got really busy after that mission."

It wasn't a happy memory, after all, of coming home from a mission that had gone badly--they'd been too late, the woman had been dead, and Sakura could still remember the smell and the look on the woman's face as blood had seeped from her hair--but the team, Ima's team, had been good solid partners during it and she'd gotten along well enough with them.

Just poor timing that, after that mission, she'd fought with her mother and then... wound up living at Ino's place.

"I can imagine," Ima said sympathetically. "And we haven't been around a whole bunch either--we got assigned a new sensei permanently, well, at least until we all pass the Chuunin exam, you know, so we've been in and out constantly." She gave a silvery laugh at that, silver eyes bright. "I'm sure you know how that goes--some days I didn't know if we were coming or going at all."

"Yeah," Sakura said, with a wince. "I know how days like that are. Hokage-sama isn't an easy teacher at all. I don't think I can even remember what a vacation day even is."

Not that she really minded, honestly. All things considered, with everything that was going on right now, the last thing that Sakura wanted was time enough to sit down and really think about what to do and how things were turning out. After her mother had cried when she'd said she was leaving for the exam again...

And what Mui-san had suggested...

"Earth to Sakura-kun," Ima teased, knocking her own head gently. "Cloud's got you captive, or what?"

"More of an 'or what'," Sakura said, rolling her eyes. "Sorry about that--what were you saying?"

Ima huffed, her pigtails bouncing with her walk. "I just wanted to know if you were good with eating with us today? I mean, unless you're busy with your team, or something?"

"No," Sakura said, having been able to read Ino's mood and already decided that staying out of her way for a little while might be prudent--Ino was having an off day, or something--"I don't mind at all. Who did you say your new sensei was?"

"I didn't," Ima admitted, fussing with her gloves. "But Ono Kioshi-sensei's a good guy."

Ono. Ono--Sakura tilted her head. "Isn't he a ninjutsu specialist? The one who is really good with water?" That was a bit of a rarity in the Fire Country, so she remembered Tsunade-shishou commenting about it.

"You got it! That's him." Ima giggled. "He's pretty cute too, but he's got a wife and _she's_ gorgeous."

Sakura laughed. "Too bad then, huh? No luck for you in that quarter!"

Ima shoved her lightly and took off. "Come on, I'm starving!"

"You're always starving," Sakura called after Ima, not bothering to speed up, which made the other girl turn and stick out her tongue. She didn't rise to the bait though, preferring to keep her pace nicely steady.

"You've got that right," Yasuo commented, sidling up to her and handing her an apple. "I don't know where she puts it, though."

Sakura grinned at Ima's teammate. His brown eyes were amused and the smile on his face tolerant. "Isn't it utterly unfair?" Sakura asked. "I mean, seriously, she's a bottomless pit and yet it _never shows_."

Yasuo rolled his shoulders, taking a bite out of his own apple. "It's entertaining to watch, though, when we stop by restaurants. We order a load of food, and they think it's for Akira and me and then they stare in shock when it's Ima eating most of it."

"Lucky genetics," Sakura sighed, and had to smile. "Hey, Yasuo-san. How've you been?"

He glanced at her and she wondered what he sensed off of her--from working with him she knew that he had enhanced senses but the specifics weren't something that they'd bothered to share with her the last time. Nothing that she'd needed to know. Sakura doubted he'd tell her now that they were heading for an exam either--not when they might wind up having to compete against each other. "Pretty good," he said, shrugging a bit. "Kioshi-sensei's got us working hard and that's a damn good thing. It was weird having no one official to help us out."

"I don't even want to imagine that," Sakura admitted. "Having to figure out all your training on your own while getting maybe a sensei for a mission or two? No thanks, that's definitely not how training should work out."

"Well," he said, "we managed well enough. It helped that all three of us have different areas of specialization so there was a lot we could come up with to practice on--that way things didn't get boring."

Yasuo laughed while she took a bite of her apple, both of them walking after Ima, and watching in amusement as the blue haired girl kicked Akira. Of course that meant the red haired boy had to kick Ima's feet out from under her.

"I feel sorry for you," she teased, "having to deal with that every single day."

"Nah," Yasuo laughed. "I feel worse for Kioshi-sensei. He's the one that has got to break them up these days. I just get to watch and try not to be dragged in."

"Better him than you, huh?"

"Always," he said, as they stopped just short of where Akira and Ima were bickering now.

"So kind," she commented, "he must be delighted with you three."

"Well," an unfamiliar voice said, "they're a good team when it comes down to it. I don't mind a _bit_ of rough-housing." There was a subtle emphasis on 'bit' that made Sakura hide a smirk as Ima and Akira spring apart.

"Kioshi-sensei," Yasuo said calmly, looking over his shoulder and up. Sakura turned to see a man with long black hair tied back loosely and wearing the official uniform of a Jounin behind them. "Sakura-san is joining us for lunch. Did you want to join as well?"

"Sure," he said easily, "someone's got to keep an eye on you bratlings." He gave her an appraising glance. "Hatake's brat, huh?"

Sakura wasn't sure if she liked this man and tried not to bristle. "I started as a student under Kakashi-sensei, yes," she answered evenly.

"Don't mind him," Yasuo advised in a low voice. "He always talks like that."

Despite herself, she laughed.

* * *

Tenten was not particularly known as a shinobi when compared to her two teammates—sure, Neji had started out as the top of his class and even back in the Academy everyone had known about him and thought he'd go far. Lee, on the other hand, everyone had known because he made himself such an easy target for ridicule.

Kids could be cruel, after all.

The bottom of their class, muddling through with only skill in taijutsu, Tenten still wondered some days how Lee'd managed to make the Bunshin that had been the requirement for passing the final exam. She'd never ask him, not because she didn't want to, but because that was something that Lee probably preferred to keep to himself. After all, he'd adapted—and done so amazingly well—to having ill-developed chakra coils, but that was no call for her to stomp all over that pride and assume that it didn't hurt, still, that he'd never be able to do some of the things every other ninja could do.

And she, she'd been solidly in the middle of her class. That, Tenten had found, was where the greatest amount of anonymity was to be found. To her dismay, that had been where she'd been stuck, no matter how much effort she put into things, her marks had stayed about the same.

She just wasn't a genius, and she wasn't a failure either. Tenten wasn't sure if, these days, failure was the right sort of word to describe Lee or Uzumaki—or even Nara, who'd finished not much above Uzumaki in grades and yet had become a Chuunin already. Look underneath the underneath.

Doing that, Tenten couldn't help to wonder what it was that they had that she lacked. She _knew_ she was a strong kunoichi. That her skill in weapons was unrivalled in her age group, and that she was a strong contender in the exam—Gai-sensei had faith in her. Lee had faith in her. Neji, in his own way, had faith in her.

But she looked at the others and wondered why all she could see was the way they'd been growing stronger. Did she lack their fire? Running along, racing over the ground as they headed towards Kumo and the Chuunin exam, Tenten studied the other team, team 10, and wondered if everyone else was blind these days when they insulted Akimichi and Ino. It was plain to see that they were stronger—Ino walked with a confidence that she hadn't had six months ago and her movements, even just to get up for more firewood, or to stretch, were far smoother and connected. Akimichi—Chouji, she mentally corrected herself—had proven himself out on the mission where Lee had been an _idiot_ and Neji had nearly died. He was strong.

That he'd come back and recouped and was running now with that same, tireless sort of strength, meant that he'd grown. His wasn't the same strength as Ino's quicksilver sort, but that was fine—that's what teammates were for. They were strong in different ways because no one could be strong in all ways.

Haruno… she didn't know her that well—everyone knew that Haruno had been taken on as Hokage-sama's apprentice and Tenten would be lying if she said that didn't sting. It had been a dream of hers for so long.

She hadn't made much of an effort to get to know Haruno better, not that she'd had that much time to spare anyway, not between training and missions and learning how to juggle good friends for the first time—it was a novelty, having girl friends to talk to, but that was exactly what Ino and Hinata had become.

For that, Tenten could be glad.

"Tenten-san!" That was Lee, always formal even after two years of training and working together.

She tilted her head to face him, still moving, but it was a pace that they could easily talk at. "There's no need to yell," she commented lightly. "It's not like we're that far away from each other, you know."

He gave her a smile and didn't argue about that. It was just his way, to be enthusiastic. "You looked so deep in thought that I figured it might take some volume to get your attention."

'What did you want?" she asked, glancing sideways at him and not mentioning that she'd be a poor ninja to get that lost in her thoughts while they were out on the road. Tenten knew that her mood wasn't something that he deserved to have taken out on him. She could keep it to herself. Smiling slightly, she asked again, "What's up?"

When he looked at her, Tenten was again reminded of the fact that Lee's gaze was incredibly penetrating. It didn't matter that he should have looked ridiculous with his awful hair cut and eyebrows that no one should have to live with. To her, that was just Lee.

"You looked out of sorts," he said, and she realized that he'd gotten a bit concerned. "I thought you might prefer a distraction than to keep thinking."

He never had been one to sit around and wait for people to work things through on their own—not when she was involved, at least. She knew well the way he'd been concerned for Haruno after the whole mess with Uchiha. Tenten wondered if that, his directness in asking her what was up, was just how he took it as marked for what teammates were supposed to do for each other.

Somehow, that thought was a bit comforting.

She shook her head. "I was just thinking it's nothing really important, in the great scheme of things."

"If it was depressing you," Lee said honestly, "then I think it's important." He meant that, she knew. "I do not mean to pry, Tenten-san, but if you wanted to talk about it…"

He left the rest unspoken, but that was alright, she gave him another smile. "I'll think about it," Tenten said, "though you might find it a bit boring."

While he protested that there was no way she could ever be boring, Tenten mulled over her thoughts, over his offer, and wondered how to put it so he didn't think she was feeling sorry for herself.

After all, Tenten didn't think she was doing that, but the way it might come off to someone else… that was always different, and harder to judge. To her, it was just a fact, that she didn't feel like she was growing and getting stronger as impressively as everyone else and that meant there was something that she was missing.

"Lee," Tenten said, cutting over his continued rambling. "What do you think of everyone's progress?"

He blinked at her, then glanced around at the group of shinobi that they ran with before his gaze settled on the other team they'd done the exam with last year. "They've changed a lot," Lee said, "I look forward to seeing what they can do—Hokage-sama had them come, on this, which means she counts them as one of her strongest Genin teams."

"Kind of like ours," she said, resisting the urge to sigh. "You and Neji had to have impressed her during the invasion and the whole mess afterwards."

"You did more than I could during the invasion," Lee said earnestly. "I was knocked out, and even if I hadn't been, with my back…" He shook his head determinedly. "I don't think she would have sent a team along on this, Tenten-san, unless she had faith in all three of its members."

That was Lee—he always managed to cheer her up somehow.

"Yeah," she said, giving him a smile. "That's got to be right, definitely."

* * *

The room was an ordinary briefing room, a little larger than the ones used for four man missions, but that was the only thing different about it. In the chairs, around the plain table, were six Genin. Two girls, four boys, and all of them looked like they'd be sitting around for a while.

"How much longer are they going to make us wait?" Sayuri complained, stretching as she glanced around the meeting room again. "I mean it, we've been here for _hours_ already. Joben-sensei is totally getting an earful about this. _Honestly_."

Tsubaki gave her a deeply unimpressed look from the other side of the table. "It's been fifteen minutes, idiot."

"You're the idiot," Sayuri muttered, brushing pale green hair away from her eyes. "Not even knowing what hyperbole is. I don't get why _Yukio_-sensei is even thinking of letting _you_ become a Chuunin."

"Not this again," muttered Inori, earning him glares from both the girls. "What? Seriously, you two. Every single time you guys see each other lately it comes back to that."

It wasn't really a surprise, all things considered. When it came down to it, as sisters, as twins, they had always been highly competitive. Their feud over who was better than the other was one that had it's roots way back from before they could walk. Sayuri narrowed her eyes at her older sister (by all of eleven minutes) and mentally wished that she'd just _drop dead_.

Why couldn't she have gotten a nice, pleasant sort of sibling? One who was _useful_ to the Clan?

_Because nice and pleasant are luxuries of those who don't have to fight_, her mother would say. After seeing how terrifying some of the older shinobi could be, when one minute they seemed fine and charming, Sayuri had mentally amended that:

You could be nice when you were strong enough that people would take you seriously even if you spoke softly.

"That's a lot of times," noted Hideki, not bothering to take his blue eyes off of his scroll. Inori snorted in agreement.

"You'd get it," Tsubaki said loftily, grey eyes flashing. "If you had a family to deal with it. But, oh right, you _don't_."

Sayuri stood up, bristling at the words and unable to stop herself from reacting. "Do _not_ insult my teammate," she snapped waspishly. "He's worth a million of _you_."

For his part, Masanori just sighed while Taka gave him a sympathetic pat on the arm. None of them made a move to stop the argument. All of them were used to this, and it was something more interesting than just waiting around for their sensei to show up.

None of them noticed the door opening, or the two men standing in the doorway listening to the argument.

"A million what? _Bugs_." Tsubaki scoffed.

"There's an idea," Sayuri retorted. "Let's invite a bug-user to _infect you_. Bugs'd be everywhere and you'd never get away from them."

"They'd like you better!"

"As if!"

"Girls," Joben-sensei said, looking pained. All of the Genin froze. "What have we told you before about airing your differences while on duty?"

Sayuri shared a look with Tsubaki before the both of them glanced away.

"She started it," Sayuri muttered rebelliously. "I'm not going to let my team be insulted." If she'd looked up, she'd have noticed her sensei looking pained.

"Which is admirable," Joben-sensei commented, "but not at the expense of obeying previous orders. Is that understood? Kawano Tsubaki, Kawano Sayuri, I await your answers."

"Yes, Joben-sensei," they said, both grudgingly.

"Excellent," Yukio-sensei said, rubbing his hands together and giving them all a fey smile. He was a delicate looking man but for the scars running down the right side of his face. "All of you have some idea of what you're here for--"

"And if you don't," Joben-sensei interjected, almost mildly, "then I'm severely disappointed in you all."

Sayuri shot a glance from beneath lowered eyelashes to flick a quick smirk at her teammates, Inori and Hideki. They grinned back. No worries on their side, at least, in being taken for an idiot team. That was a good thing, Joben-sensei was _their_ sensei after all. If they'd disappointed him, then training would've been utter hell.

"We're here 'bout the other villages, aren't we?" Masanori said, leaning back in his chair and glancing up at the sensei. "Shizuka of Mitsu-sensei's team was talking about how her team had a meeting today as well. You're separating us by year groups is my guess."

Considering that, Sayuri couldn't find a flaw in that logic. "We're being assigned to watch particular teams, aren't we?" she spoke up, saying what came to mind, and ignored the dirty look that Tsubaki gave her.

It wasn't her fault that this time she'd been quicker on the up-take, after all. All was fair.

Joben-sensei favoured her with a small smile and Yukio-sensei beamed at them all. "Exactly right," Yukio-sensei said, clasping his hands behind him. "There are other meetings going on to break our visitors down into manageable groups."

"It'll be difficult," Joben-sensei warned them. "The other villages will have been sure to send their very best teams. You're to be on your guard, and to avoid starting fights. If they start a fight, they're disqualified from the exam and sent home."

"We don't want them sent home," Yukio-sensei calmly took over. "We want them where we can learn as much as we can about them. And that means we need them here, under observation, and so all of you are under strict orders to avoiding fighting with them at all costs."

"What about during the exam?" Taka asked, frowning at that. "We're not giving them a free ride through, right?"

"During the exam, the rules are the same as during any other exam," Joben-sensei answered. "You do your best to pass the exams, no matter what. Fighting is allowed then."

"Though Raikage-sama notes that he'd appreciate it if you refrained from killing our guests for sport," Yukio-sensei admitted. "So keep that in mind. Kill them if you absolutely have to, but don't do it as a game. I know some of you are head-hunters."

Sayuri shot a side-ways glance at Hideki and wrinkled her nose at him. That was why they hadn't been allowed to go on the last exam. Ugh.

He rolled his eyes, and she knew he was of the opinion that it was ancient history and when would they all get tired of talking about it?

"Joben-sensei?" Inori asked. "Are the teams for surveillance further broken down by village? We're not the only two from our class that are taking the examination."

She blinked--that was true.

"That's right," he said, "your two teams will be covering two of the Konohagakure teams."

Tsubaki looked outraged. "Konohagakure gets an invitation to our exam and they send Genin _our_ age? Are they making fun of us?"

"No," Yukio-sensei said soothingly. "Konohagakure has some truly spectacular Genin in your years. During their last exam, most of the Genin who made it to the finals were their rookies."

"Glut of talent," Masanori observed. "It happens every few years, even here, right?"

"Precisely," Joben-sensei said, setting the folders out on the table. "Now, your teams have been decided already, based on our understanding of their competence and skills. This has no reflection on any of you, other than who we felt would match your personalities the best."

Sayuri nibbled on a lock of hair, considering that. "So," she said, asking the question that they were all thinking. "Who'd we get?"

* * *

The next few days passed quickly--the conversations Ino'd had with the others giving her more than enough to think about and Ino was glad enough for the distraction provided by the border guards as they proved that they were in the country for what they said they were (and that they were _who_ they said they were, which as a ninja was a bit more difficult, she wondered if half the time that the guards just took it at face value to save on the hassle) to quit thinking.

Conversations after crossing the border were far less free. All of them knew well and good that they were likely under heavy surveillance and their actions reflected that.

Ino, for her part, spent a fair bit of time studying, thinking and talking a mile a minute without saying anything at all. She knew that it was something she was good at--just because there were words coming out of her mouth didn't make them important, after all--and used that as a way of venting her irritations from, well, everything.

New country, new rules, Hyuuga giving her weirdly knowing glances--what the hell, they weren't even really, like, friends--and the fact that it was really really _strange_ without Shikamaru around.

And that thought, of course, had her mentally reeling. Did she seriously miss him? _Augh_. All that work to go on without him, to prove that she could be just as strong as he, and now she had the nerve to--wish he was around?

Feelings, Ino decided mutinously, totally sucked. She didn't even know why she missed him except, maybe, the fact that he was a commonality. Like dirt, she didn't have to think to know he'd be around.

When she shared that thought with Chouji, he'd laughed and said, "I'm telling him you think he's like dirt."

She'd stuck her tongue out at him, if he didn't get it then too bad because she got it and it wasn't an insult at all.

Lightning Country was a weird one, she thought, there was a lot more climbing--good practice, she told herself whenever the urge to curse at the sight of yet _another_ freaking mountain got strong--and yet there was a lot of water. The rivers and even lakes they found didn't seem to be daunted by the fact that they were steadily rising higher in altitude.

"Wow," Ino said, as they crested the final edge and Kumogakure came into view. The view was a bit misted over with clouds--no really--but they all paused to take a moment to look at it. "It looks a bit like a giant beehive, doesn't it?"

Tenten stifled a laugh.

Ima didn't bother with stifling as she shook her head and tugged on Akira's sleeves. "Come on," Ima said, "we've still got to get down there, and if we hurry then we can be in the village by nightfall."

_Real beds_.

They were tough, well-trained, ninja. They were also teenagers who'd been on the road (running, even!) for days. Real beds were a major draw. Ino suspected, as she turned away from the view to continue on, that the adults were thinking much the same.

"Giant beehive?" Sakura murmured, voice taut with suppressed mirth. "What, are you trying to set them against you, Ino-pig?"

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Ino insisted, though she totally did and was yet prepared to defend it to the end. "I mean, I wasn't meaning anything by it, but that was totally my first impression--can you honestly blame me?"

Sakura shook her head, laughing. "Don't get us all killed," she advised. "I can think of people who'd be pretty unhappy with you if that happened."

"Yeah yeah," she said, flapping her hands. "Go on then, shoo. Wouldn't want you contaminated by my awesome nerve."

The walk, run rather, down to the village proper took them most the rest of the day. It would have taken less time, but then there was the fact that they had to get through security and that was a huge time suck.

"I wonder," she murmured to Tenten, "how much security did we have in admitting people the last time around?" Was this normal? Or had security been upped after the fiasco in Konoha's last exams?

Tenten just shrugged; she didn't know either.

The hotel they were escorted to, though, looked large and rather comfy, so Ino brightened upon seeing it. Hopping up the steps, one two three, she turned to call down to Chouji and froze at the sight of someone familiar.

Led by the crazy one, were the three Suna nin that had both helped ruin their village and then pick up the pieces of it afterwards. Ino's eyes narrowed as they settled on the blonde's--Temari, right? that was her name--and huffed.

"I can't believe it," she moaned, "what are they doing here?"

Having helped to save her team or not, Ino wasn't thrilled. Three more people who were strong enough to have helped Shikamaru and his team who, well, weren't her. That wasn't something she was thrilled about acknowledging.

Ino watched them, waiting on the steps while her team caught up. Gaara, the crazy one, looked much the same as he had six months ago. The weird one with the puppets—she couldn't even remember his name—had done something to his face paint, it was a bit different, and Temari looked like not even a day had gone by. Fiddling with the bandages that Ino had gotten used to being wrapped around her arms, she couldn't help but feel a bit resentful of that.

That was the girl, after all, who'd been strong enough to save Shikamaru. Maybe she was supposed to be grateful—and she was, in a way, after all: Shikamaru alive beat Shikamaru dead, no doubt about that—but…

"What are you staring at?" Sakura hissed. "You look like an idiot—"

"Look," Ino said, pushing Sakura in the right direction.

"What—" Sakura stopped, and Ino could almost feel her eyes widening. "_They're_ here?"

Funny how that made Ino feel better, but there it was. Sakura didn't sound exactly thrilled about it either.

"Let's go," she murmured, "before they spot us, well, spot us so that they have to come and talk to us, you know what I mean."

Sakura nodded. It was likely that they'd already been spotted, after all. But the Suna trio weren't rushing to come and greet them, so Ino figured that if they beat a quick retreat that they'd be spared the awkward hellos.

Awkward allies. Ino made a face at that, tugging Sakura up the stairs and into the hotel. "You two are so slow," Chouji said, having waited at the door.

"Did you--?" Ino asked, as Sakura pushed past her, into the hotel.

"I saw them," he said, looking a bit concerned, "but--"

Sakura had come to a dead stop inside the hotel, staring at another team that had just been coming down a flight of stairs off the side of the lobby.

"Sakura?" Ino said, pushing by her. "Wake up, forehead. You make a better wall than a door. What's--_oh_."

Oh. Was right.

Ino stared at the trio, all of them wearing Oto hitae-ite and suddenly understood why Chouji had been concerned (it hadn't had anything to do with the fact that Gaara and them were around at all) and knew just why Sakura had frozen.

"Sakura," she said, glancing over her shoulder. "We're going up to our room."

Ino's voice brooked utterly no argument. She hadn't been expecting this--stupid, what had she been doing, just drifting along? Of course Oto would want to have Chuunin made officially--but the way Sakura had just completely...

"_You_," Sakura snarled, and shoved past Ino to head towards the Oto Genin, who watched this with first confused expressions then mildly alarmed ones as they, Ino guessed, put two and two together and figured out who this had to be.

"_Sakura_," Ino said, darting forward and grabbed her friend's arm. "_Stop it_."

Sakura swung to look at her; Ino refused to let go of her arm. No way was she going to let Sakura get them disqualified that quick or well, really, at all (Ino would prefer to avoid disqualification because that would be the lamest reason _ever_ to fail at the expectations that they'd been given for this exam) and she narrowed her eyes and made sure that her grip was strong enough that, to get out of it, Sakura was going to have to do some major effort.

She'd gotten stronger in the last six months after all, and that showed.

"They might know where Uchiha is," Sakura hissed and the Oto Genin watched them warily even as one of the boys tried to tug the other two members of the team away from them. They didn't, it was clear, want to be disqualified either.

"So what if they do?" Ino asked, pitching her voice so that it was easily heard by the Genin who were the target of the conversation. "You going to start a fight right here in the middle of the hotel before registration is even over? Exam don't start 'till tomorrow, you know that."

They'd gotten there just on time, exactly as planned. Distantly Ino was aware of the fact that the Jounin were really not thrilled about having to be here--even if it was a good chance for additional intelligence, it was also a bit like walking into a trap and saying 'please eat me, I'm delicious'.

The look Sakura gave her was agonized. "But--," she started.

Ino shook her hard. "There's no buts," she said flatly. "I know why you want--talk to them." Yeah, that wasn't going to fool anyone but it was way better than saying 'interrogate' right out in the open considering that they had the attention of the whole lobby. She barely registered the fact that Gaara and the other two had entered the lobby along with their Jounin sensei. "You think I don't get it?"

Sakura stared at her, Ino's grip tightened further. If they hadn't known medical jutsu it would have easily left a nasty bruise. She'd apologize later. International incidents were to be avoided way more than a bruise after all. "Then why--"

"Because," Ino said, voice cool, "there'll be plenty of time for that during the exam. No need to do it here and get in shit 'cause we're not allowed to be fighting. Get that through your skull, _Haruno_."

Sakura looked like she'd been slapped. Ino was almost tempted, if only so the message would get through. Why would they want to do something so--obvious--right here where everyone could see it? If they had to go after another team, do it when everyone else was going after their own targets. Slowly, Sakura nodded.

"You're right," she said, voice monotone. "Of course--that makes way more sense. I'm going to my room now."

Ino studied her for a moment then handed over the keys noting, as she did so, that the Oto Genin didn't look much reassured. She wondered what sort of stories they'd heard to make them so wary of _Sakura_.

"Go on," she said, and watched Sakura stalk off. Sighing in relief, Ino turned to see if she could spot Asuma-sensei--she had to talk to him, like, right away about what was going on. And Chouji...

"Blondie."

It was, frankly, rather odd to be called that by someone who also had blonde hair. Neither did it thrill her when she turned to face Gaara and his siblings. It was Temari who'd spoken.

"It's Yamanaka," Ino said, one hand on her hip and wishing that she was anywhere but having to be the one from their team to do the greetings. Too late now though. "Hey."

Gaara stared at her and she resisted the urge to shudder. He had a creepy gaze and only an idiot would fail to sense the power he carried in him—it felt stronger than during the last exam. Ino wondered if that was because he was stronger, or because she was. Temari gave her a look that Ino couldn't decipher. "Good call," the sand kunoichi said finally, then added, "Yamanaka."

That was--well. "Thanks," Ino said, and wondered if maybe this could go better than she'd thought it would. It would be nice, in this instance, to be right.

"Naruto," Gaara said, and her attention snapped back to him. "Is he here?"

She shook her head. "He's on a training mission--Sakura might know better where he's supposed to be this week."

"I'll ask her then," he said. "Temari. Kankurou. Let's check in."

* * *

Please review!

And if you're interested in finding out what Shikamaru is doing while Ino and the others are at the exams, please see my profile for the story _Sky on Fire: Walk Through Shadow_.


	21. Chapter 13: Anticipatory

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 13 Anticipatory  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 13 of ? Unbeta'd. Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk! I will... attempt to update more frequently, though I make no promises other than: I will not ever abandon this story. It _will _be completed no matter how long it takes.

And I don't normally give personal shout-outs (you are all awesome and I love you all), I just want to squee about the fanvid that paradise . bird (if I don't space your name out they remove it!) made me here: www. youtube. com/ watch?v = W6BtGyX0ZAI (without the spaces).

It is _fabulous _and thank you so so so very much paradise . bird !

* * *

Ino stretched, arms going up over her head as she worked out the kinks brought about by sleeping, and rubbed at her eyes. Oh man, why was she even _up_ yet? As she stared up at the ceiling of the room she shared with Sakura, though, Ino knew that sleep wasn't going to happen right this second.

With a sigh of resignation, she wriggled out of bed (being quiet so as not to wake Sakura) and slid into a comfy pair of pants and a soft top before she ran a quick brush through her hair and tied it back in messy pigtails, then left the room.

She wandered; there was no real rush and _so_ no point in hurrying when she totally didn't have to.

There were, after all, times when a moment or so to herself was a definite good thing and after days on the road, always on the move, Ino had been feeling a bit pressed for privacy. If there wasn't someone talking to her, then there was someone talking nearby enough so that her attention was caught and then she was wrapped up in another conversation.

She could feel the tension slowly draining from her as she explored the layout of the hotel on silent feet. Ino sighed, slowly relaxing. This, just like this, was what she'd been missing. It wasn't quite the same as working in the greenhouse, or even doing accounting for the shop, but it was something peaceful.

Something that had nothing to do with anybody but herself.

Idly Ino wondered what Shikamaru was doing right then-he could be out on a mission, right? Or perhaps he was at home studying (and she knew he did, intelligence didn't grow in a vacuum despite his best efforts to act like everything ever was _so boring_ and completely not worth any sort of effort at all); maybe out with the deer.

"Ino?" Chouji's voice broke through her thoughts and she startled. He was dressed much the way she was—definitely not up for the day yet, and looked at her with eyes that were sleepy but alert. "What are you doing?"

"What's it look like?" she asked impishly. "I'm sneaking like a ninja."

She was not. Chouji's expression said loud and clear that he didn't buy it.

Ino shrugged. "I was hoping a bit of a walk would let me get a few more hours sleep." Honesty. "And I could say the same for you—what're you doing?" It was barely two in the morning, far too early to be up.

She fell into step beside him, content to let him walk where he wanted to. In this case, she didn't mind following his lead.

"Much the same as you," he said, casting a glance at her. "Though I thought a glass of milk might help, but the kitchens are closed and guarded."

"Oh?" They stepped down the stairs making now, she realized, for the tiny little sitting area. It was surely bugged to hell and back with listening traps, but they weren't saying anything important. "Do they really think someone would try and poison the visiting Genin?"

"Better not to take chances," he said dryly. "Worse things have happened in past exams."

True enough and she bounced slightly as they sat on the cushy seats. She resisted the urge to see if she could spot any of the listening devices. That would probably count as unwarranted prying.

"Whatever," she said dismissively, then wrinkled her nose at him. Yes, she got his meaning. "Did you know-"

Ino fell silent at the sight of another of the Genin from Konoha slipping through the lobby. She waved one hand to silence Chouji—who probably wanted to know why she'd stopped talking—and tilted her head at the other. Unless the girl turned around, they were all but invisible in their seats.

The Genin didn't stop to look though. Ino looked considering as she broke the silence. "Nobuko," she declared, with certainty.

"It certainly looked like her," Chouji agreed, frowning slightly. "But what was she doing?"

"The hot springs are that way," Ino said. "Nobuko probably wants to wash her hair _again_."

Which wasn't much of an explanation and they both knew it. The rooms they'd been placed in had showers attached to them. Ino shook her head slightly: they weren't going to wonder about it here and now. And they weren't going to try and see either. If Nobuko was up to something detrimental, the less they knew the better.

Chouji's sigh as he settled back on the chair agreed with her. "I can't argue there-she's pretty... fond of it."

Ino grinned over at him. He was getting better at playing along. "Worse than I am?"

He tugged at her sloppy pigtails and laughed. "Way worse," Chouji conceded, "if only because you're too practical for that when we're out in the field. Now, if we were at home..."

Flicking a bit of lint at him, Ino pretended to be annoyed. "Hey," she said, "I'll have you know that a girl's hair is a very important weapon and must be taken care of at all times. These things matter when you aren't totally a power-house."

"Not all guys are power-houses," he pointed out mildly. "What about them?"

"Well, a lot of them have utterly fabulous hair too." Ino laughed at the face Chouji made at that. "Nah, I don't think that they run the same sort of missions that a lot of girls wind up doing."

"What about you?" he asked, stealing a pillow from behind her with a light tug.

"My missions?" Ino glanced over at him and made a grab for the chair pillow. "Don't be dumb, I'm on the same missions as you guys."

"Yeah," he said dryly, holding the pillow out of her reach. "I did notice that, Ino. But I know your specialty as well as you do. Do you really think you'll always be?"

"Man," she complained half-heartedly, pushing herself into sitting cross-legged on the chair and giving the pillow a sulky look. It had been comfortable! "Why are you ruining my relaxation time and making me think? Always talking about tomorrow is pretty dull, don't you think?" Even if tomorrow _was_ the start of the Chuunin exam. But half her complaining was for the appearance of it anyway.

He looked at her steadily. "And yet, you didn't answer my question."

"It's a stupid question," she said, frowning at him. "You already know the answer, okay? I'm not dumb, you're not dumb, and we can both put the dots together. I don't know where you're going to end up, that's up to you. Same with Shikamaru, but I know what sort of missions I'm good at and no amount of medical training is going to change what my family does."

"Better," he allowed, and sighed. "Are you looking forward to it?"

That made her pause.

She absently tilted her head, to all purposes staring at the shuttered window but in reality not really paying any attention to reality while she decided how to answer that. It wasn't a question that she could answer with a pert, flip sort of response.

Chouji deserved better than that.

"Who knows?" she asked, stretching as he tucked the pillow behind his back. "I don't have an answer to that yet."

Just suppositions, and day-dreams, and the knowledge of what her family was the best at. Was that enough to justify either way that she'd enjoy it or not? Ino didn't know, but it suddenly felt a bit awkward being here and thinking about things like that. Somehow, she thought, it was a lot lonelier now than it had been a few seconds ago.

"I mean," she continued, since Chouji obviously wasn't going to say anything until she gave him a fuller answer-in that she hated him sometimes. Shikamaru never waited her out. He was just as impatient as she was, especially when it came to conversations. "I guess-I think I'll like it? I mean, who _doesn't_ want to do what they'll be good at? I'm not super strong, and I'm not a super genius or anything, but I've got my own strengths and I think I'm going to want to play to those."

A pause and she glanced at him out of the corner of her eye. "Do you think that's wrong? Actually wanting to play to your strengths?"

He looked contemplative. "No," Chouji said finally, "I don't think that it's wrong."

"Then-what's the big deal?" Ino asked, as she tugged her hair out of the pigtails and shook her head as it came loose and tumbled down to brush her shoulders. "I mean, what are you going to be doing?"

"Whatever Hokage-sama has need for me to do," he said, a bit wryly.

Ino raised her eyebrows at him. "What about your own ambitions? Do you have anything that you want to do more than anything else when it comes to being a ninja? You don't get to ask me questions like that and then totally escape having to answer any yourself. Seriously unfair."

"I haven't decided yet," Chouji said, shrugging a bit. "Right now, I want to get stronger so I can be effective in the field and support my teammates. Isn't that the same for you?"

"You know it is," she said, frowning at him. "Why else would I go into medical jutsu?"

"I know," he said, shaking his head. "But I don't have a-master plan. Do we need one, right now? I just want to keep taking it day by day."

"Yeah," she said slowly, "but then why'd you bring it up? Talking about the future isn't much of a way to live in the past, you know."

He shrugged a bit and she knew that she wasn't going to get much more of an answer out of him. Ino bit her tongue and counted to ten. And then counted to ten all over again because while it was seriously annoying she wasn't sure exactly what to say.

What was up with him, geez? She wished Shikamaru was there just so they could be-_boys_ at each other. Then she wouldn't have to deal with this sort of thing. Ino sighed, fiddled with her hair elastics, and considered his profile.

"What are you thinking about the exam?" she asked instead. Let him think that she'd given up for the moment and was letting the topic be changed by going with it gracefully.

If he fell for it, he deserved to be surprised when she circled back around later. Tucking a bit of hair behind one ear, she resisted the urge to comment on how, really, when someone asked a question the polite thing to do was to answer it.

Because that was _such_ a useful thought, really.

"About the exam?" he asked, after a moment. "I guess, I sort of wish that Shikamaru was here."

Ino digested that answer. It was easy to get angry about it. What, was she not good enough? Did he not have enough faith in himself to pass it without Shikamaru's brain, or something? They couldn't go through life depending on Shikamaru to do everything for them.

Not that she would ever do that anyway-it'd be an utterly intolerable existence. Definitely. Hadn't she been training so that she never would have to rely just on him?

(No, a small part of her thoughts corrected, you've been training so that he won't leave you behind again.) Telling that part of her to shove off and shut up, Ino sighed. Both were true. Whatever. The exam started in a few hours. This wasn't the time to start a fight. Even with herself.

"We'll be fine," she said, almost airily but not feeling so at all. "We don't need him here to come up with plans and tell us where and how to go about things. Sure, he's got his genius brain, but neither of us are idiots and we can tell a good plan from a bad plan too."

Ino would seriously have to hurt him if he didn't agree with that. Sure, she wasn't as good at thinking through all the options as Shikamaru, and Chouji was too slow when it came to middle of the fight reacting, but that didn't make them awful at it. They were still learning. Genin. This would see if they were ready to be Chuunin. Had surpassed their weaknesses enough.

"You don't get to start off as a genius," she added, when Chouji didn't say anything to her first bit. "I mean, what's that stupid thing that Rock's always going on about? Being a genius of hard work? We're kinda more like that, however utterly lame that sounds, and seriously if you repeat that to anyone I'll deny it totally."

That got a short laugh out of him. "You're a genius of hard work?" he asked, and she could hear the laugh in his voice.

Ino levelled a not-quite-a-glower at him and shrugged. "I know the value of it, at least. I wouldn't call myself a genius at it though."

"What about kunoichi stuff?" Chouji asked. "I know you're pretty highly regarded in that."

That was a bit embarrassing. "Well," she said slowly, "yeah, but that's not like what a lot of other people are good at, you know? It's not a special battle technique, and it's not like Sakura and her medical jutsu, that can save lives. My talent'll be good for what I go on to do, but it's not-flashy. It doesn't matter to a lot of people."

He looked at her and unaccountably Ino found herself looking away.

"I don't think you think it's something that doesn't matter," Chouji informed her. "And so what if it's not flashy-not everything a ninja does is flashy. Most of what we do isn't, actually."

"Maybe," she said, giving him a small half-smile. "But sometimes it feels like flash is the only thing that really matters. I'm not going to be super powerful for an all out fight, though I refuse to let myself be utterly pathetic either. My talents and my body don't lend themselves to that sort of battle. But that's all that's been important lately so I guess it's just a bit-disheartening. I'm not a powerhouse, and I don't have something that can give miracles or anything. So I just have to keep being as good as I can be at what I know I can do."

"You're learning medical jutsu," he pointed out, his mild voice holding a hint of steel. "And one day you'll probably know more about what's going on with the village both inside and out because of your family skills. Information is just as powerful as pure physical strength, and I would think that you of all people would know that, Ino."

She shrugged, not wanting to talk about it. "You thought wrong, then."

"Why don't you think it is?"

Ino stared at him for a long time, debating whether or not to answer, then sighed and decided to go with it. It wasn't like she hadn't known the answer to that question for a good long while anyway. This was something she'd been aware of for a while.

"I used to think that information was going to be just as powerful a tool as pure strength," she said, absently braiding her hair while she talked. Something for her hands to do. "I mean, I know I'm smart, and that I'm talented, and I'll beat the face in of anyone who dares suggest that I'm not."

The braid was unravelled as she paused to find the right words.

"But I'm no genius with an IQ that can out-think anybody, or plan something a hundred moves in advance. I'm no powerhouse, whether through natural talent, or through family bloodlines. I don't have any super technique that makes me all but impossible to kill. I'm fast, but I'm not a speed demon or anything like that."

She chewed her lip, not sure if this was the time to say it. "I guess," Ino said finally, "that I stopped believing information was as important as strength when I got left behind at the first chance _he_ had to pick his own team."

Even now, even six months after that she could barely find the words to express the rage that had simmered through her, the way she'd felt upon discovering that her own team hadn't even trusted her to be strong enough to deal with it. The way she'd been left to find out on her own that, really, it didn't matter what her specialty was because no matter what she did, she wasn't going to be as strong as the boys.

Not that way.

"Ino," Chouji began, and then stopped when she turned to face him.

"If you're going to tell me I'm wrong," she said, in a low and dangerous sort of voice. "Then don't say anything. I don't need to be told I'll be useful _later_ in my career. Because later wasn't _then_, and later won't change what happened back then."

His eyes were very gentle. Ino flushed and looked away from him.

"Come on," Chouji said, tugging her off the chair. "We should get some sleep."

"Why aren't you angry with me?" she asked, muttering the question as they walked. He still had her arm in his grip. She wasn't inclined to fight for it back. "_I'd_ be angry with me."

"Because," he said, voice so low she almost thought she was mishearing things. "Sometimes I think you're right."

"Oh." And wasn't that funny how hearing that made her feel both better and worse at the same time?

She let him escort her back to her room in silence that was almost comfortable. Ino paused outside her door and looked at him. "You don't think I'm weak?"

Chouji studied her for a long moment. "I've never thought that, Ino. But there's all kinds of strengths."

And she couldn't argue with him there. She simply shot him a smile that was—realer than she'd thought it would be and entered her room.

This time, sleep came easily. Sometimes talking helped.

* * *

It was the little things, Sakura found, that struck her as the oddest about Kumo. Pushing her hair out of her face, rubbing the sleep away, she surveyed the room she shared with Ino with the faint smell of gardenias lingering in her nose. Making a bit of a face at that, she'd have to wash it out of her hair and to ascertain that it didn't cling to her for the exam, Sakura grabbed her hairbrush.

When it came down to it, the room wasn't all that different from a hotel room in Konoha. The windows were spaced a little different-they were taller, but thinner than how Konoha did it and the way the room was laid out spoke of a different sort of pattern. Stretching and sighing upon realizing that the other bed was empty and, yes, she could hear the shower running, Sakura resigned herself to being the second in the shower.

And Ino took _forever_.

Lips twitching as she rolled her eyes at that, Sakura threw back her blankets, set the hairbrush down, and shimmied into her clothing from the day before. If she couldn't shower first thing then there was no point in putting on clean clothes yet.

Sighing, she wondered if it was worth it to go looking for breakfast. She didn't want to be seen as being slovenly or anything, but she was hungry. But at the same time it was probably best if she didn't go wandering off on her own so that no one was left wondering where she'd gone. Hostile village, after all, and Sakura was well aware of that fact.

Chewing her lower lip while thinking, she sighed again. It was no use lying to herself, Sakura thought. She just didn't want to meet the Genin from Sound again. Or-rather, she _did_, but wasn't sure if she could keep her composure around them at all.

Or if she even wanted to keep her composure around them. Her eyes narrowed, growing chilly, as she contemplated just what she could do to them to _make them talk_. If they got through the exam, it wouldn't be for lack of trying on her part. Maybe it was vindictive, or really, it totally _was_ vindictive, but Sakura couldn't help but think that had the Sound not shown up at the last Chuunin exam, her life would still have been going just the way it had been.

With Naruto and Sasuke and Kakashi-sensei.

It was a complicated feeling not being sure that if she wanted to go back to that-in a way, yes, she really did. Sakura missed having a real team, a proper sensei, and missions to go on with the camaraderie of a group that you had to rely on and who had to rely on you as well. She'd still have been able to live at home; her mother wouldn't be at odds with her over things like being a ninja. If they fought it would be more about her choice in clothing or something.

But at the same time, not everything that had happened in the last six months was bad. Sakura had to admit that she was glad that Ino and her had-worked things out to a degree. That she'd become Tsunade-shishou's apprentice. That she'd become a shinobi who could stand on her own two feet and have someone rely on her without it being a burden.

Not all bad, she told herself, but nothing came without a price. Sakura tied her hitae-ite on, setting it above her forehead, her hair band really, and wondered about that. Was that a lesson that she'd needed to learn?

Maybe it was, she acknowledged, studying herself in the mirror. Even the way she stood these days looked-prouder. More confident. Like she knew what she was doing.

Her stomach growled and Sakura stifled a laugh.

Right now, though, she was apparently doing breakfast. No time for heavy thoughts!

Yelling through the doorway where she was going, just so Ino wouldn't wonder (and, geez, did she really have to take showers that lasted _this_ long?), Sakura made sure that she was armed and ready for anything, and slipped out the door.

This early in the morning the hotel was fairly quiet. Sakura didn't let that fool her, of course, into thinking that just because it seemed quiet that there was no one up. Most shinobi would likely be up at this time, especially when they had the exam to take today. Her thoughts shying away from the exam-it brought up so many memories that she didn't want to deal with-Sakura continued her investigation of the small halls that seemed almost cramped for room even though when she held out her arms they could barely brush the sides of the hallway.

She wondered how they'd managed to get that sort of feeling across. And why. Maybe it was the lighting? Mulling over that, for lack of anything more pressing to consider right that second, she headed down the stairs.

It didn't take her that long to track down the kitchen—kitchens always were one of the harder rooms to hide; scent rather gave them away easily—and she was glad enough to see that the Sound Genin weren't around.

She wasn't the only Konoha-nin in the room though and Sakura offered Yamaguichi Minoru, from Hamada-sensei's team a smile which he returned with an easy wave for her to come over and take a seat. Seeing no reason not to, she complied.

"There's no buffet," he told her frankly, blue eyes amused while he leaned back in his chair and idly tossed a butter knife into the air just to catch it. "I think they're worried we'd try to poison each other before the exam."

"That'd be stupid," Sakura retorted, picking up her menu and studying the choices. "I mean, it'd be pretty obvious that someone did it—wouldn't that just disqualify all of us?"

"Probably what they're trying to avoid," he answered, gaze flickering up as a server approached to ask if they wanted anything to drink.

Sakura asked for water. Yamaguichi-san asked for fruit juice.

"It'd be a pretty poor effort at having an exam that other countries can come to for the first time in over a decade if they didn't make the effort to keep us all alive until the exam," Sakura had to admit. "I mean, don't you think?"

It wasn't like there was much of a point in beating around the bush with that point. Every single one of them who'd come, especially from Konoha, was well aware of that fact and had been from the moment they'd been asked and qualified for the exam here.

He hummed thoughtfully, flicking his long hair back over one shoulder as their drinks got brought out and they placed their orders. "I think," Yamaguichi-san said, once they were alone again, "that they'd have to really. Can you imagine the issues that would cause if they didn't?"

"I don't even want to try," she snorted. "I'm not an elder or anything like that-and I don't want to be."

"Wouldn't you wind up like that?" he asked, considering her thoughtfully.

Sakura glanced at him. "Why?"

"Well," he said, sipping at his juice-wild berry, it looked like-and setting the glass down. "I mean, if your teammate gets his dream. Isn't that what tends to happen to his teammates?"

Sipping at her own water, Sakura made a face at him. "Even if he does make it, he's going to take awhile. I don't know what I'll be doing then—and it's not like the Fourth's team got made into advisors, so it's nothing automatic."

It said something, though, that she'd given it thought. Sakura shoved that to the back of her mind, away with all the thoughts of Uchiha and how he'd never be an advisor now. She didn't know if it was possible to bring him back, but she didn't fool herself into thinking that, even if they managed that, that he'd be able to ever be on active duty as a ninja.

Months of being Tsunade-shishou's apprentice had cured her of that sort of thinking. It was never anything blatant, but by shutting up and listening she'd learnt a good bit about the laws of her village that before then she'd never even considered.

Uchiha was a missing-nin. That wasn't something that could be reversed with just the wave of a hand. It was all over Konoha by now that he'd gone rogue and public opinion of him wasn't high. Sakura was still a bit surprised at how quickly he'd gone from being everyone's favourite to—no one worth mentioning.

Sakura wondered if that was how it had been for Naruto his whole life. No one worth mentioning? But that wasn't entirely right, how many people gave him cold looks and talked down to him, after all. She wasn't blind to the way her teammate was treated, even if she'd only become recently more fully aware of the fact that there was definitely something way more amiss than the fact that he liked to prank people.

"Sorry," she said, blinking and realizing that Yamaguichi-san had been speaking. "I zoned out for a minute, can you repeat that?"

He gave her a bit of deprecating smirk. "Am I that boring?"

"No," Sakura answered, shaking off her thoughts decisively. "It's just a bit weird thinking about things like that and actually wondering how it's all going to turn out. I mean, I'm not where I thought I would be six months ago, but I like how it's all gone, you know what I mean? There's just been a lot going on."

Yamaguichi-san nodded. "Your team especially," he noted, and laughed when she made a face at that. "Sorry," he added, "but there's not a person in Konoha who doesn't know at the very least enough of the details to gossip about it while there's nothing else to talk about. Doesn't help that you're doing so well under Hokage-sama, because that just draws more attention to your whole situation. If you just faded into the background then things probably would die down a lot more."

She fell silent as they brought their food out then. "I'm not going to fade just so that people can forget."

"Never said you should," he said lightly, grinning. "Besides, what's the point in fading? You're way more awesome while you're shining."

To her own embarrassment she found herself flushing at that. "I'm not that awesome," Sakura answered, the word rolling a bit awkwardly off her lips-it was more of an Ino phrase than anything else. "I'm just finding my footing and still have a long way to go."

He looked at her with amusement dancing across his face. "Isn't that why we're all here?" Yamaguichi-san asked, tilting his head at her. "I mean, none of this is where we're going to stay. If that was the case, if we were going to be career Genin, or if someone thought we'd be better off that way, then we wouldn't have been sent _here_. The very fact that we're in this country at this time means that Konoha's got faith in us."

Sakura had to smile slightly at that. "So we've got to have faith in ourselves, right?"

"Just so," he said, and they dug into their breakfast while watching the room slowly gain more Genin who'd been drawn in by the smell.

* * *

Finishing her breakfast, and wondering where the hell Ino was because if she was still in the shower Sakura was going to never ever forget that and make a million comments to the effect that Ino should have been born as a fish, she waved good-bye to Yamaguichi-san and his teammates; quiet Nobuko, and sarcastic Koga Renjiro.

She'd just have to go and check. They were getting close to having to get ready to head out and Sakura definitely didn't want there to be any chance of being late today. That would be beyond embarrassing if they were late to the start of it, right?

Definitely right. Oh well, she was just borrowing trouble now. They had the time so she told herself to quit worrying—there was no need to worry about everything under the sun, really. She just had to convince herself of that, and it was a bit harder than it had been in a while thanks to her thoughts inevitably leading back around to the fact that the last time she'd gone through an exam things had gone all out of whack.

This time around she was the only member of team seven to be present in the exam and that was as a guest on another team. Eyes narrowing at that, she didn't _want_ to think about that, Sakura forcibly shook her head.

Heading up the stairs to go and get some answers, Sakura let herself take a moment to lean out one of the windows and just study the city. It was both sight-seeing, which was a perfectly normal thing to do, as well as getting a feel for the layout should it come down to a battle of some sort, which was normal for her, but less so she figured for the average tourist.

Trying to get an idea of how many people were out on the streets—they didn't seem to have so much bustling around as Konoha did, Sakura wondered if it was just the time of day that was affecting that—she didn't immediately pick up on the fact that someone else had joined her in staring out at the village.

A sideways glance, upon realizing that she had company that wasn't radiating any sort of hostile intent, which would have had them noticed a whole lot faster, Sakura paled a bit. Standing there, looking as unruffled as a statue was Gaara.

Sakura knew that Naruto had beaten sense into him. She _knew_ that. But it was one thing to know it and another thing entirely to look over and find the person who, the last time she'd been in contact with him, had attacked her and made her lose consciousness.

"Gaara," she said, proud of the fact that her voice didn't waver and managed to sound rather polite. "Good morning."

It was so inane that Sakura winced. Suzume-sensei had lectured them endlessly on things like this, situations under pressure, but she'd never been the best at them. At least, Sakura consoled herself, it was better than her having said something even worse. Something along the lines of 'so I guess you're here for the exam too' sprang to mind. If it came down to a choice between idiocy and inane then she knew which one she would opt for every time.

He didn't seem to mind. His gaze, still the same slightly dead look that had always crept her out even before Suna had helped Oto invade her home, shifted towards her and she told herself firmly that she was not allowed to take a step back or anything like that.

_Ally!_ her mind shrieked. _He's an ally!_ Sakura did her best to keep her cool as she resisted the urge to flinch under that gaze and reminded herself, yet again, that Naruto called this ninja 'friend'.

Of course, a small part of her muttered, Naruto would call anyone who was nice to him even once 'friend'.

Not helping.

"It's cool here," he said, glancing back at the window as if sensing her discomfort.

It would be easier to really believe that Sabaku no Gaara was her ally, Sakura thought, as he studied her without blinking, if he was just less _creepy_. But Naruto trusted him and she-wasn't sure if she should do the same.

He didn't seem to be angry at the moment. No sense of killer intent. Too much chakra, but that she was coming to suspect, was something he couldn't exactly help. Less of an intimidation technique and more of a reality for him.

"Naruto went off training," she said, knowing he wouldn't leave until he had an answer and not really begrudging him that however much she wished she'd been around other people to answer this. Did that make her a coward? Sakura didn't think so. There was nothing cowardly about wanting to know where your back up was. For the first time, she wished that she hadn't been in such a rush that she'd not bothered to wait for Ino.

Gaara studied her with teal eyes. "Because of your teammate?"

"Yes," Sakura answered, wishing that it wasn't true and yet glad it was. Emotions made little sense. She didn't even know if what Naruto was doing was right-shouldn't he be here, training with all of them? Why did he have to go on alone and leave them behind as if they weren't good enough to follow him? "Naruto's determined to retrieve Uchiha from Oto."

That was common knowledge and while she lowered her voice, there was no way she was going to step closer to Gaara right now. Naruto trusted him but Sakura remembered being slammed against a tree and crushed under sand before losing consciousness.

He simply nodded. "Ah."

And walked away.

Sakura stared after him, not sure exactly what he'd gotten from that, not sure what she was supposed to say-could that really have been all he wanted to know? Anyone could have told him that. Or not, she realized abruptly, if more people were as scared as she was and lacked her (relative) confidence in their safety. Sakura could be relatively sure that Gaara wouldn't want to hurt one of _Naruto's_ friends. Most people didn't have such assurances.

"Sakura," he said, just before he left the hallway. Gaara kept his back to her. "My apologies for before." Then he was gone.

And she was left gaping in his wake. Sabaku no Gaara had apologized to her? For what had happened in the forest? She shook her head and tried to find words. Surely she had to answer him in some way, right? "I'll get over it," she said, wondering if he'd even hear her.

Wondering if it mattered.

It wasn't forgiveness, not yet. But it would be, one day. They were allies. Sakura would just have to get over it. She could do that.

But not today.

She turned to look out over the village from the window for a little while longer before a bell rang throughout the building. Sakura looked up at the sound of it, tightened her hitae-ite, and headed off for the lobby.

There were more important things to do today than find it in her to forgive someone that had hurt her. Sakura's grin went just a little savage.

Things like _winning_.

* * *

Finishing her shower once Sakura was out of the room-seriously, how was that girl so hungry already?-Ino towelled her hair off and scrambled into a clean set of clothing. Arming herself took longer than putting on her things and Ino had to grin at the image she made in the mirror with her pink glasses perched jauntily on her head.

She looked like a total dork.

Who let dorks take the exam anyway? Ino snickered at her own thoughts, she was easily amused sometimes, and ran her hands quicksilver through the seals that would keep the glasses from falling off unless under the most provoked sort of situation. Humming as she continued putting away kunai, double-checking her supplies-this time, she was making sure that they had plenty of ration bars with them, just in case it was needed like the last time, and triple checking her wire and senbon supplies.

They were easier to misplace, so she compensated by making sure that they were there more than once. It worked for her. The explosive notes made her grin a bit as she wriggled into her sandals and double checked that she wasn't missing anything...

Right. Scooping up the scrolls her father had given her, Ino made a note to make sure that Asuma-sensei got them before she headed to the exam. It didn't matter that they were in code that only she and her dad knew the keys to-in a different village there was no way she was leaving any of her secrets just hanging out for anyone to inspect at their leisure.

A knock on her door had her pausing, scrolls automatically going behind her back. "Yes?" Ino called, wondering if it was Sakura and she'd just been dumb enough to forget her key. No way did she dare to sense chakra around here; last thing she needed was someone getting on her case for something like that.

"It's me, Ino," Chouji answered, sounding faintly amused. "Are you decent?"

A quick, lightning quick, check of his chakra confirmed that. Ino set her scrolls down and stalked over to open the door. "I'm always decent," she informed him with a toss of her head, letting him into the room.

"That's not what some people would say," Chouji teased lightly.

She rolled her eyes, shoving him playfully. There was no need, definitely not right now, to cover the same ground they had earlier. "What's up?" Ino asked, hands absently going up to check her twin ponytails-still too small for a real one, down the back, and so she'd gone for two smaller ones just behind her ears-and giving him a glance over. "You look all ready to go. And—you look good."

He did. Not in an attractiveness sort of way, she'd never thought about him in that light and couldn't see him as anything but a friend, but Ino took a moment to appreciate the fact that, to her eyes, he was more than completely recovered from that mission. She might have... issues, to put it kindly with the situation that had led to his injuries, but she was equally sure that she'd never stop being glad that Chouji had made it back and was healthy.

"I feel good too," he assured her, understanding what she was thinking without her ever having to say it. "And I'm not taking those pills with me into the exam."

A tension she hadn't even been consciously aware of bled out of her shoulders at that. "Asuma-sensei has them?" Ino asked, not going to delude herself into thinking that he didn't have them on him normally.

It was a temperament thing, she thought, that even allowed the Akimichi to live to adulthood. They knew how to lose and when to lose. Ino knew herself and knew that if she'd had access to those pills... the odds were a lot lower that she'd have held off using them before a situation like that. Wishing that she could talk to her father about it; he'd know better than she would, after all, and it was an interesting line of thought, she smiled at Chouji, rather than frowning.

He, at least, would only use them in the direst of emergencies-and he had a far better grasp on that than she or Shikamaru did. Shikamaru froze, she reacted without thinking. Chouji treaded the line between the two extremes.

"I gave them over to him last night," he said, and nodded to the scrolls that lay on the bed. "You're giving those to him?"

"Yeah," Ino said, making a face. "No way could I take them with me-that'd be asking for someone to come and try to take them, and I'll need them once we get through the preliminaries."

"Planning on winning already, huh?"

Ino gave him a look that said quite clearly that he'd best be joking about the very idea of her thinking anything else. "Well yeah," she said, once he looked suitably sheepish for her tastes. "I mean, no point in trying to do something if you don't think you've got a shot at winning, right?"

She didn't think so anyway, though Ino wasn't going to entirely discount the possibility of that happening, of there being a reason to take on something in that manner.

"Weren't you the one teasing Sakura-san a few days ago about being over-confident?" Chouji asked, the amusement in his eyes tipping her off about the fact that he was just kidding with her.

"Hey," Ino said, "there's a difference between confidence and over-confidence. I mean, seriously, there's a chance we might not even make it anywhere near the finals this time around. But we made it to the semi-finals our first time out and I know all three of us are stronger now than we were then. I think we've got a good shot."

She paused, and then admitted sheepishly: "I was more confident before I saw that the Suna team, you know which one, was here." Because, seriously, the youngest of them scared her and Ino didn't like admitted that to anyone, not even herself.

"Look on the bright side," Chouji said, with a bit of forced lightness in his tone. "This time, he won't be out for blood."

"No," she said dryly, though that did reassure her a bit. "Instead Sakura is. You do know that she's going to be all for hunting down that team from Oto the moment we get a situation that's feasible for a bit of-talk, right?"

He nodded, humour gone, and Ino felt a bit bad for that. "That's how you got her to calm down yesterday," Chouji said, "by telling her that there's a proper time and place."

Picking up the scrolls and making sure she had all of them, Ino gave him a bit of a rueful smile. "I don't mind if we go after them," she said, voice a bit chilly, "after all, I'm none too fond of Oto either," for reasons that she thought were perfectly obvious, "but the way I'd go about it is different. And, yeah, it was probably harder on her—what with what happened to her team."

Never mind what had happened to Ino's team.

Chouji studied her for a moment; Ino just looked back at him with steady eyes.

"Alright," he said finally, looking a bit tired. "If we get the chance, we aim for Oto."

Her answering grin was predatory.

* * *

There was something about this village that seemed really on edge, Ino thought, nibbling on a pear she'd swiped from the kitchens while she leaned on the balcony on the roof and stared out over Kumogakure. Her scrolls had been handed over to Asuma-sensei and she'd passed Sakura in the hall on the way up.

She wasn't exactly sure what the difference was, some intangible thing that Ino couldn't put a finger on, but it hovered there in the air and she was content enough to mull over that while she whiled away the time until the exam began.

If she'd wanted to show up way early then she could have headed downstairs already but Ino didn't want to stick out that way, and it seemed better to her that they show up just at the right time. Not early, definitely not late, but just when they had to. Tugging idly at one of her pigtails, she began committing the city layout to memory. This high up Ino knew that she wouldn't get all of the details, all of the twists and turns of alleys and back ways, but that was alright.

There'd be time enough for that later, unless they were given a training area and told to not leave it. Then, Ino supposed, she wouldn't learn, but it was a bit surprising that they would allow them to study as much of the city as they were now.

Soft footsteps behind her had Ino raising her eyebrows. She would have recognized Chouji, Sakura, or Asuma-sensei but these steps were none of them. Wondering idly if it was someone who'd come looking for her, or just another Chuunin-hopeful who wanted to study the layout of the village, Ino shrugged, biting into her pear again.

"Hey," she said, without looking back. It wouldn't do to look too interested, after all. Even if she was actually rather curious about whom it was.

"Yamanaka." It was both an acknowledgement and a greeting. They weren't the same thing, not exactly.

Her eyes narrowed speculatively at the sound of _that_ voice. Turning around, Ino rested her elbows against the railing as she looked over at the other girl, Ino knew she was taking a risk—someone could always try to take her out now, but that would get a whole lot of questions and probing into the incident and so she figured that it was safe enough—and tilted her head to study the other girl. "Temari-san, right?"

The Suna kunoichi looked much the same as she had six months ago, Ino noticed, from the fan strapped to her back to the hair up in the same four bunches. Different clothing, but who was she to judge? She with her arm bandages and pink glasses. Things changed. The gaze the other girl gave was critical—but no more critical than the one Ino gave her, so let she that pass without comment.

"I didn't expect to see you here," Temari said, walking briskly over to lean against the railing near her.

Ino glanced sideways at her. "On the roof?" she asked dryly. "Or in the exam?" She wondered what the point of this was supposed to be. There was no way that this girl, the one who'd beaten the crap out of Tenten for no other reason than the fact that girls shouldn't depend on someone else to save them, was someone that Ino was thrilled about interacting with.

And yet, technically, they were allies. It was a bit weird, that realization.

Temari snorted. "Do you really want to know the answer to that?"

Not particularly; she could guess it. "I've been working hard," Ino answered instead, with a nonchalant shrug rather than the scowl she was half-tempted to pull out. Be civil. She could manage that for a conversation.

"Hm."

Raising her gaze to the sky—it was a cloudy day, but they didn't look like rain clouds—Ino debated her options. "How are things going in Sunagakure?" she asked finally. "With the whole aftermath."

Of finding that your father, the Kazekage, had been murdered and impersonated and none of his children had noticed. Or cared, Ino amended; it was hard to tell which it was with the three of them.

Temari's eyes cut towards her. "Interesting question for a Genin with no tie to Suna."

"No tie?" Ino echoed, eyes cool as she studied the area, the sky, pretty much anything but Temari. "There's plenty of tie. Suna is Konoha's ally. Beyond that, it'd be pretty stupid of me not to notice who'd helped my team out."

And Ino wasn't stupid. A bit silly sometimes, but never stupid.

From the way that Temari's eyes went contemplative, rather than disdainful, at that, Ino thought that she very well might agree that there was a point to be found there. Sensing that she shouldn't push it, at least not that angle, Ino gave a languid seeming sort of shrug.

The silence that followed was weirdly comfortable and even though she didn't get an answer to her question, Ino thought she might have learnt a thing or two anyway.

* * *

Asuma leaned against the door frame as he watched his team (well, his team and Sakura; she wasn't a poor teammate for them but...) and resisted the urge to pull out a cigarette. He didn't want to know what they were arguing about—Chouji looking unaccountably grave, Ino peeved, Sakura exasperated—and so he stayed where he was.

Anything he could say at this juncture would be all but useless for them. They knew what they had to do. They would have to figure out how to succeed all on their own.

He could only watch from the sidelines and trust that they were precisely as capable of living up to the expectations Hokage-sama had laid on them as they wanted to be. In this situation...

Asuma cast his glance over the assembled Jounin. Gai over there, enthusing to his team. Hamada Reiko looking sleepy as she answered a question from another Jounin. For the moment he couldn't spot Ono Kioshi, but the steady hum of familiar chakra against all the unfamiliar pulses stood out. It was enough. All four of Konoha's Jounin were here.

The hotel lobby seemed almost too small for as much energy as it held. Wound tightly, the Chuunin hopefuls amounted to a significant amount of chakra in one place. He was hardly the only Jounin to be getting a headache from so much concentrated nervous energy. While it was possible to block out the thrum and pulse of chakra, doing so while on unfamiliar territory would be beyond irresponsible.

Despite the headache, he couldn't miss the subtle genjutsu being dropped around the village. Asuma leaned his head back and smiled faintly as Gai went silent for a moment. So that was the first exam? None of the Genin had noticed.

_Interesting._

Raising his hand in a gesture of support to his team, Asuma watched as the Cloud-nin began escorting each team out. None of the three-man teams aware of what the Jounin—older, wiser, more experienced—already knew, all of them assuming that the exam would begin when they reached their first destination. The knowledge that all exams were different and realizing that were two different things.

Asuma dug out a cigarette and silently wished them luck.

The Chuunin Exam had begun.

* * *

Please review!

And if you're interested in finding out what Shikamaru is doing while Ino and the others are at the exams, please see my profile for the story _Sky on Fire: Walk Through Shadow_.


	22. Chapter 14: Perspective

__  
Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 14 Perspective  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Word Count: 17,918  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 14 of ? Unbeta'd. Extra long chapter this time around because it took me so long to update! Thanks so much to all who read, review, and lurk! 

* * *

Ino studied the Chuunin that stood in front of her team, her eyes curious. That much, at least, she allowed herself to show. They were Chuunin hopefuls-being incurious would be noted more than her interest. He was a tall man-maybe twenty, no older than twenty five, in Kumo's standard uniform for Chuunin. He had long grey hair left loose and silvered eyes. His hitae-ite was sewed onto the right arm of his uniform.

_Not bad_, she thought lightly. Ino approved of eye-candy.

He, in his turn, studied them right back. She wondered what he made of what he saw. Ino glanced sideways at Sakura-looking pale, but composed and determination radiating from her posture-and at Chouji-looking deceptively serene, it was his mask as much as her laughter was-and then back at the Chuunin. What did he see when he looked at her?

Ino didn't look down at herself. That would be too much like revealing a weakness-an uncertainty. She knew what she looked like anyway, from the vibrant glasses perched on her head, to the bandages wrapped around her arms and legs. Purple top, purple skirt, standard-issue blue sandals. Nothing out of the ordinary about her, Ino knew, and that was perfectly alright with her.

"You're to lead us to the place for the first exam?" she asked. Ino wondered why they weren't just going to all go there the way they'd done in Konoha.

But this wasn't Konoha, she told herself firmly. And this was another exam entirely. She'd known things changed between exams, but it was one thing to know it, Ino realized, and another thing entirely to experience it.

"That's right," he said easily, his voice smooth and remarkable only for how utterly unremarkable it was. "I'm Takahara Jun."

"And you already know us," Ino replied, not inclined to give away more information-he had to already know their names at the very least, if not a basic idea of what they could do. They were Genin, after all.

She could only hope they were ready to become Chuunin.

Chouji's faint smile said he understood where she was coming from. "We should get going," he said, and Ino wondered if she was the only one that could hear the thread of excitement-anticipation?-underneath his calm demeanor.

"I agree," Sakura said, giving the Chuunin a long look. Her eyes were hard, as they'd been most of the morning, and Ino knew it was what that meant. Sakura was focused on the Chuunin hopefuls from Oto. "Have we passed your inspection?"

Takahara Jun's smile seemed to mock them and Ino resisted the urge to bristle. "Follow me," he said, and turned.

Ino frowned slightly as they stepped out of the building and glanced at her teammates. Had she only imagined that Takahara Jun had added, after telling them to follow him... _and we'll see_.

Something to keep in mind, she resolved. And her blue blue eyes hardened as she, Chouji and Sakura, followed where he led. 

* * *

There were few things more nerve-wracking and thus hated, in Nobuko's opinion than waiting. Patience was something that all shinobi must have-not should or could, but _must_-and while she had it in spades when it came to putting things into motion or gauging the right moment to do so, waiting around on someone else's clock had never been her strongest point.

She straightened her hitae-ite and refused to touch her hair even though it would sooth her. Right here, right now, as they waited for their Chuunin to come for them to lead them to the examination area, wasn't the place or time to indulge in what was a comfort.

They weren't supposed to be comfortable.

Shifting from foot to foot Nobuko critically eyed her teammates. Yes, they'd do. They'd have to do.

And so would she.

There was no doubt in her mind that for all she judged them harshly, that they would be judging her just as harshly back. It wasn't quite the same sort of friendly bond that seemed to have infected the rest of the Konoha teams, but it worked well enough for them and they were thoroughly used to one another. Which, she supposed, was a type of friendship too.

Just a more critical one.

"Stop fidgeting," Koga Renjiro said irritably. "Can't you see that the Chuunin is just making us wait longer because you're giving away your nervousness?"

"I'm not nervous," she objected, startled out of her musings. "I wasn't even thinking about the exam, how can I be impatient?"

It wasn't, quite, a lie. She'd been thinking about their team and their friendship and while that would come under fire during the exam (all exams did that, she knew) that wasn't the _exam_, so she felt justified in saying she hadn't been thinking about it.

"What were you thinking about?" asked Yamaguichi Minoru, before Renjiro could come up with a suitable retort.

One, Nobuko thought, would involve daydreaming idiots who didn't think about the thing that was going to change their future as it was happening.

Maybe she even deserved that.

"Bonds," she replied, with a faint smile. "And what they can withstand before breaking."

"Do you think there'll be a lot of that in the exam?" Minoru mused, tilting his head back to study the sky for a moment. "I guess it's possible. It depends on what they plan to test us on and how many tests there are."

Renjiro scoffed. "Everything depends on that right now. There's nothing but going forward to see what happens that we can do. I don't even know why we're talking about this, guys. We all know that."

Nobuko shrugged. "It's better to think about things than brood and work ourselves into a panic."

"You don't think it's worth a bit of panic?" Renjiro arched an eyebrow. "You know, just an exam that might change our lives. Oh no, nothing to panic about at all."

Her lips twitched. "Precisely."

Minoru snickered.

"Minions," their Chuunin, a heavy-set man with a broad smile and beady, unfriendly eyes, said. "Come along, darlings. We're heading out."

_Darlings?_ Nobuko mouthed as she followed the Chuunin. _Ugh._ Not even.

But at least they were moving forward. Far better to do that than stand still. 

* * *

"Are you serious?" Sayuri asked incredulously, glancing at the Chuunin. "We've got to have our hands held like _babies_ to get to the first exam? We live here, it's not like we don't know where the areas are."

The Chuunin, a pretty woman with green eyes that literally glowed, gave her a smile as empty as a light bulb. "That's the orders, Genin," she said, and Sayuri was certain that the laughter she heard lurking under the woman's voice wasn't just her imagination.

Sayuri drew in a sharp breath, ready to protest, when Inori laid his hand on her arm. "Let it drop," he advised, shaking his hair out of his face-it was escaping the hold his hitae-ite had on it and she knew that was irritating him. Sayuri attributed the annoyance in his voice to that. "Chuunin Exams are different."

She glared at him anyway. This was _ridiculous_. Why shouldn't they be allowed to head for the examination area without a guide who, in this case, had to be more of a guard? Did they really think that any of the foreign shinobi were so stupid as to attempt bloodshed in the _middle of the village_?

Well, there was that Gaara... everyone knew _his_ reputation. Sayuri huffed. She hated it when she could find loopholes in her own thoughts. That meant that, maybe, other people might have a point when they said she was being irrational. And _that_ was not something that she wanted to countenance.

"And you're making us late," Hideki added, a sigh in his words. He tugged on his sleeves (they draped over the tips of his fingers) and glanced at the Chuunin.

Her eyebrow twitched, even as she understood his message. Did he think she didn't know? She fully realized she had to be making a poor first impression but Sayuri didn't care. If she had to, she could always apologize later.

It was, after all, easier to apologize after the fact than to ask permission. Sayuri figured that worked for everything else too.

"I don't like this," Sayuri informed the woman haughtily. This was _embarrassing_ and, even worse in her opinion, insulting. She understood it for the Genin from other villages but-

They were different. This was their _home_. Sayuri narrowed her eyes and drew in her breath to complain, again, when Inori placed his hand in front of her. She hissed at him.

He looked unimpressed-not unsympathetic, she knew that, which only made indignation bubble higher. "Let it _go_, Sayuri."

Sayuri took a moment to savour the fact that both Inori and Hideki were eyeing her apprehensively by now, and turned her gaze back to the Chuunin woman. She lifted her chin-no matter what, _she_ wasn't going to be embarrassed by her actions. Sayuri had known what she was doing, after all. "Go on, do your job and lead us there."

The laughing woman gave them a mocking bow. "As you wish! I will be sure to do my job with excellence."

Somehow, Sayuri thought, as they headed out, that didn't reassure her very much. Maybe it was the glint in the woman's eyes. 

* * *

Tsubaki was reasonably certain that she was going to die. And not even die the way a shinobi ought to die-out in the field, facing down enemy Jounin, or defending a team who held confidential information that was important enough to give her life to protect it and buy them time. But no. If things kept up this way, she thought, then she wouldn't even get a _chance_ to do any of that.

She was going to die of _boredom_.

"-and so," Ryouma, their Chuunin guide, who'd been quick to insist that they call him by his given name, continued, "you see, that's how I wound up being the one to guide you three."

"I see," Tsubaki replied, even though she absolutely didn't and didn't really want to. He hadn't had to use so very many words-he'd talked for nearly fifteen minutes and now they were that much behind the other teams. She arched an eyebrow in disbelief at her teammates-surely this was not what all the teams were dealing with. Surely not. She'd never heard of anything like this before.

But then, it was true, Chuunin Exams changed every year. Not that she had much experience with past exams but stories got told and tales got passed around. Ninja were gossips at heart. Too many years of training in information gathering made gossiping an ingrained habit. Everyone wanted to know everything—even if they didn't admit to it.

"Are you done prattling?" Taka drawled, stretching out with his arms over his head. Tsubaki winced. "We want to head over. No offense, but it's probably more interesting than listening to you."

"At least," Tsubaki interjected mildly, in the hopes of making up for Taka's rudeness, even if she _agreed_ with the opinion, "for today. Forgive us our disrespect, Ryouma-san. We're merely excited about the exam."

She was irritated, but still didn't want to make an incredibly bad impression: what if they made Chuunin and wound up having to work with Ryouma? Even if the very idea of it filled her with dread-did he have to talk so very much? It was still better to bite her tongue now and keep things as smooth as possible while being honest.

Always be honest when dealing with the higher ranked ninja of their own village. That way she wouldn't be caught in a trap of her own design, at least. Or give them reason to doubt her.

The Chuunin studied them and, for a second she thought he might have a mind behind his chattering ramble, and then he laughed and she decided he was a bit of an idiot all over again. How had he made Chuunin? "No offense taken. We move out."

"Finally," muttered Masanori. "He was going to talk for _forever_."

Tsubaki agreed, which made it all the more galling that her own personal standards meant she had to insure that all of them got along well enough.

_Please,_ she thought, following after Ryouma-san and her team. _Please let us get through this without trying to kill him._

That would just give the very _worst_ impression of their team, if that happened. 

* * *

It was a _glorious_ day!

No one on her team had any injuries—Akira's broken wrist had been cleared only two days ago by their sensei to be back up to full strength, even though it had healed more than three weeks ago, and that had been their greatest and most obvious weakness, as far as she was concerned, even though they'd deliberately not mentioned it even to the other teams of their village.

A broken wrist, after all, was second only to broken fingers to a shinobi. Jutsu required their hands and there were more than a few shinobi who'd been forced into an early retirement because of hand injuries.

But that didn't matter today! She refused to consider it any further-after all, it didn't really _matter_, as Akira had healed perfectly anyway, and so they were in the Chuunin exam and that? That was more than glorious. Stupendous, maybe, though Ima wasn't sure that was a good enough word for either, not when she was feeling so very _excellent_.

Ima glanced through blue bangs at the _total cutie_ they'd given them as a guide and studied his ass as they followed him through the streets. Nice ass, she decided, definitely at least an eight.

Not that it mattered, not exactly, but it was something to do while following him. And he hadn't exactly seemed like the sort to care for _talking_ despite the fact that they'd tried.

Pffft. Cutie, but totally not a talker.

Ah well, some of the older ninja back home were like that too. Ima idly compared the Chuunin they were following against some of their ninja. Konoha ninja, she decided, after a few minutes of contemplation of the Chuunin's ass, were way hotter.

And not just because they weren't the enemy.

"Stop ogling him," her teammate, Yasuo, teased in an undertone. They both knew the Chuunin would likely hear them but Ima had never been one to succumb to shame and just shrugged when the Chuunin glanced over his shoulder at them, eyebrows raised. Really now, if he hadn't noticed her staring at him before they'd given him a reason to react, she'd eat her gloves.

"It's not like the scenery is exciting," Ima defended herself. And it had the added bonus of being true. House, house, house. More houses! Why it was just like every other street ever. What was exciting about that? "I'm just keeping myself entertained. This place is confusing."

It wasn't, not really. Like most of the foreign Genin, she'd been picked to attend the exam for more than one reason and Ima thought that, after her stealthy study, she'd have been able to find her away around the village with little effort. Even with their boring streets.

That wasn't something she was really keen to admit to in front of an examiner from another village-one that was known for hostile relations with _her_ village. The enemy.

"Confusing," Yasuo agreed, glancing around with a shiver. "And a bit creepy."

Akira's eyes narrowed thoughtfully when the Chuunin snorted his amusement. Ima filed that away under 'potentially important' and cheerfully went back to her ogling.

There was no point in letting an exam get in the way of _that_ after all. 

* * *

At first, the walk had been interesting enough, if slow. All of their team, after all, were more than used to going the other way-too fast, pushing the limits of what was supposed to be possible. And now they were going too slow.

Tenten cast a sidelong glance at Neji, who bore his impatience with chill indifference over his features-only someone who knew him would guess that, from the way his eyes were intent and the strain in his shoulders, that he felt anything other than mild boredom and vague interest, which was an interesting contrast but nothing that would, or she corrected herself hurriedly, nothing that _should_ overly concern any of the Chuunin who were proctoring the exam.

She let her gaze travel to Lee, after giving Neji a nod-she, too, knew how he felt.

Of the three of them, it was clear that Lee was the most… pumped up about the current situation. He practically vibrated with the effort to keep to this pace and _not_ go racing off to see if he could reach the exam area, despite not knowing where it was, before they could at their walk. Tenten couldn't blame him. It was worrisome but she felt almost the same way and she spared a moment to wonder if Gai-sensei and her team was rubbing off on her a little _too_ much.

Nevertheless. Lee looked like he was going to burst if they didn't pick up the pace and Neji's mood was creeping through her defences. And neither of them would, of course, say anything. One because of pride, one because he likely had decided that the pace itself was a challenge that had to be surpassed.

She transferred her glance to the Chuunin-a tall, severe woman with ice-blonde hair and warm blue eyes-and stepped up so she could speak to her. "Excuse me, Shinobi-san," Tenten said politely. "Could we-"

"We'll get there when we get there," the woman replied, cutting Tenten off. "Patience, Genin." It was said firmly, but not angrily. Like it was more of a fact than an order.

Patience, she thought sourly, wasn't something she was unfamiliar with. At the same time, however, Tenten bit her tongue and fell back.

She didn't like it, no. But it wasn't her place to make a fuss.

Lee was almost comforting when he started in on how she'd made a valiant attempt, Tenten didn't bother to hide the smile that got out of her. He was trying, hard, and she did appreciate that.

A valiant attempt, sure. Absolutely. Neji snorted and her smile grew. A glance at him proved that while he was definitely still not best pleased, that her attempt had at least distracted him from a truly _bad_ mood.

Good enough. They could exercise their patience. Tenten's smile widened as she listened to Neji and Lee with half her attention. The other half of it was busy studying the turns they were taking to see if she could guess where they were heading.

All information was good information to a shinobi. 

* * *

..._Really_, she thought with a sigh that was kept purely internal, why did everyone here have to talk so very much? It was as if they were worried that their words would run out and so they had to use as many as possible while they still had them.

Sana glanced at the talkative Chuunin through half-lidded eyes and twirled her hair around one hand. It was heavy, thick hair. Deep brown, red highlights. Of course, she thought, with a faint smile coming to her lips, that was only what it looked like. Appearances could be deceiving and it brought her some small pleasure to know that her hair was a great lie, when looked at from the right way. Nothing so simple, obviously, that a _kai_ could reveal, but she wondered if there would be any with bloodline limits that would see something other than hair.

Would it register when it both was and wasn't hair all at the same time?

She glanced at her teammates—Kozue, who was looking bored, and Haruki, who was getting irritated.

Really... why couldn't they say anything? Boys were so tiresome.

"Hey," she said, her voice coming deliberately slow and languid. It was a peculiar thing, but she'd noticed people reacted with more alacrity when she spoke like that. Kozue had once said it made her sound like her father. "Can you stop talking? It's annoying."

Sana brushed past the blinking Chuunin with a sweep of her long hair, feeling better already. It was always nice when people actually _were_ silent for a change.

Haruki and Kozue... she didn't have to look back to know they were grinning at each other. Very well, that she could deal with.

They were a team.

Mmm, she wondered, frowning distantly as the Chuunin behind them squawked and started talking again-he sounded agitated; she wondered why he insisted on being such a bother.

She wondered if this exam would have any other teams worth noting. That was always interesting and she was very glad her sensei had permitted them to attend this exam.

So much to observe.

"I thought," she drawled, turning to rest on hand on her hip and giving the Chuunin a long look. "I thought I told you to be silent unless you have something important to say."

He stared at her.

"Well?"

"Turn left?" The Chuunin squeaked and Sana was pleased when he said nothing further.

They weren't here to win allies. They were here to be tested. Why waste time being polite to nuisances like him? She didn't see the point to it at all and if she didn't see the point to something, she was little inclined to actually go forth and _do_ that something.

Her Academy teachers had despaired of her, for that. Their criticism had rolled off her like raindrops. The only one she'd listened to was her father, her feared, famed father.

That was how it should be, she thought, almost content, almost wearily, and wondered if she ought to needle the Chuunin (who was giving her wary glances now) a little more. Was it needful?

Probably not, she thought, which was all to the good, even if it was a little boring, without a distraction.

Ah well. Surely the exam would get more interesting? This was, after all, only the start. 

* * *

The Chuunin stared at them and Temari found that she had to admire the way he managed to do so without any sign of fear. That was more than most people here could say, for all that her brothers and her were only Genin. Fear made them weak. Was it skill or stupidity that let this Chuunin gaze at them so calmly? Whatever it was, Temari had to admit that it was a pleasant change. A tiny little interlude where they were almost treated like every other team.

She kept her gaze, her mostly _disinterested_ gaze, just to the side of the Chuunin while her brothers stared back at him. She wondered what they were thinking. Kankurou was easier to read than Gaara but both of them were in full mission mode, like herself, and that made even the simplest expressions a little more challenging to guess. Especially, she conceded, when checking those expressions would mean she'd have to quit her own study of the Chuunin.

It wasn't worth the effort. "We don't bite," Temari said finally, shooting Kankurou a glance when he snorted. She bared her teeth in a predatory smile. "Much." Just to see what the Chuunin would do, of course.

She was interested.

The Chuunin gave her a bored glance. Not even a twitch. That impressed her. Mildly.

"Temari." Gaara glanced at her, voice mostly flat, but that was normal. Better flat than malicious though he'd been less and less malicious ever since the last Chuunin exam.

"I got it," she replied. "Sorry, Gaara."

Years of habit, years of being scared _of_ her brother rolled neatly into that statement. I'm sorry, please don't kill me. I'm sorry, please don't look at me. I'm sorry, please don't notice I exist.

This apology wasn't any of those ones and if this change in her brother, wrought by Uzumaki who'd done in a fight, a conversation, held, then she'd never have to use one of the old apologies again. Now 'I'm sorry' meant just that, even though a lifetime of experience meant past associations of the word were harder to overlook.

"Stop staring," Temari said, narrowing her eyes at the Chuunin with aggravation that was mostly faked and only a very tiny part real.

Mostly, at this point, she felt anticipation.

Last exam they hadn't been able to simply focus on the exam itself. This time would be different. New. That was something to enjoy in, to be able to pretend that they were simply another Genin team in an ordinary exam. This was neither an ordinary exam-and everyone with brains knew that, not when it was Kumo who had sent out the invitations-nor were they an ordinary team of Genin. That didn't mean the patina of pretence wasn't appealing in a peculiar way. Temari wondered if her brothers felt the same way.

She wouldn't ask that, though. Not to them. She directed her attention to the Chuunin, her voice cool. "Get moving. We're supposed to be heading to the examination place."

He bowed slightly, mockingly. Temari decided him for an idiot and hoped Gaara didn't kill him.

Getting disqualified from the exam at this point would be revolting. 

* * *

She all but danced with poorly repressed excitement. Chuunin Exam! Chuunin Exam! They would kick the butts of _everyone here_ and wouldn't that be the _best thing ever_? She thought so, really she did, and that was enough to carry her excitement. So far it had lasted through a sleepless night, spent restlessly going over things and making sure she was totally pumped up and ready for today.

After all, it was definitely the sort of thing that she was supposed to be ready for.

She, Midori, glanced impatiently over at Natsu and Ryu but firmly bit her tongue and kept her mouth shut. All things being equal, right now, she knew better than to say anything. It was so _hard_ to keep a lid on it, but she managed and that was the important thing, she knew that.

Ryu was listening to what their Chuunin-was it a pet, could they keep it, why did it keep talking when it was supposed to be escorting?-had to say and after all this time she knew better than to interrupt Ryu when he had that look on his face.

He was very patient with her. Except when she interrupted him. Even if she _did_ still want to know if they could keep the Chuunin as a pet. They probably wouldn't let her, she thought, with a twitchy sort of shrug. They knew how her pets ended up.

Which, whatever Ryu and Natsu said, was totally not her fault. What else did they expect from her?

Natsu was listening to their Chuunin but it was more of a lazy sort of 'well, there's nothing better to do' kind of listening and that was pretty normal for him. It meant that it absolutely didn't care about what the Chuunin was going on about (and neither did she, truly, because if asked to say what the Chuunin was taking about she wouldn't have the slightest idea). He didn't care. When he cared about something he stopped smiling and he was smiling right now.

He was pretty good at looking harmless, really, which was one of the things that she liked about him. She looked pretty harmless too. Everyone said so.

And more importantly than 'everyone', her team said so. They definitely counted more. Wide green eyes, her vibrantly orange hair up in pigtails that bounced with every step and an open face dotted with freckles. Energetic. Hyper. Totally harmless.

Totally not. Her eyes narrowed contemplatively as she spun in place. They'd get through the first exam. And the second. And after that the third and if there was a fourth or a fifth or a sixth-it was hard to tell how many exams there would be, some had has many as _seven_-for sure.

And then nobody would ever be able to say they weren't strong when they _were_.

"Midori," Ryu said, getting her attention.

She brushed off the fact that he sounded annoyed (like he'd had to call her name more than once) and perkily danced over to him on light feet. She flung her arms around him exuberantly. "Are we going?"

He bore the hug with good grace. The Chuunin raised an eyebrow. Natsu kept on smiling.

"We're going." 

* * *

There was something _off_.

Ino studied their surroundings through lowered lashes and doing her best to look like she _wasn't_ drinking in the area and attempting to commit all of it to memory. It was a bit like an itch, she mused, being certain there was something wrong and not sure _what_ it was. She couldn't quite pinpoint what it was that had her so on edge but from the way that Chouji kept glancing down at the ground as if to make sure it was still _there_, it wasn't just her.

That was rather comforting, at this stage in the exam. If she'd been the only one on edge, it would have been tempting to merely write it off as nerves. Ino could only imagine her father's reaction to _that_.

How, he'd want to know, are you supposed to trust your instincts when you ignore them?

So she wasn't ignoring them. Confirmation was still nice.

Sakura's eyes were slightly too wide, not enough that someone who didn't know her would spot it, but more than enough for Ino to tell. Best friends and rivals since forever-you learned mannerisms of a friend and knew them inside out simply as a matter of course. She had no doubt that _she_ was radiating signals that were as blatantly obvious to Sakura.

Chouji's fingers flashed in a signal and Ino's faint smile was the only indication that she'd seen it before she increased her pace so that she could walk beside the Chuunin while Sakura fell behind to walk with Chouji.

Peppering the Chuunin with questions-everything from the simplistic to the complex (at least, as complex as she thought wouldn't seem out of the ordinary for a Genin from a different village to a) be curious about and b) have the nerve to ask and expect a reasonable answer)-Ino kept the man busy, even while pretending she wasn't.

Oh no, she was absolutely, _really and truly_, curious about how many apartments there were in the city and the average rental price.

Sakura tripped, the movement clumsy, but a natural clumsy, and so much so that Ino resisted the urge to applaud. Ino had graduated with the highest marks in kunoichi arts, but Sakura had done quite well. It was a fabulous, and entirely fake, stumble.

Chouji was there in an instant as they stopped and glanced back. Ino kept talking, like this was an everyday occurrence. Sakura was absolutely a klutz, see? Who wouldn't believe them? Ino laughed lightly in response to the Chuunin's answer and rattled off another question. She kept it casual, light, that way there was no reason to suspect anything.

Well. Anything other than the fact that Ino was terribly nosy and chattered like a magpie and could go on and on and _on_ about any subject under the sun. But that was a given-she was a kunoichi.

Sakura's face was pale as she got to her feet. Embarrassment at having fallen, considering that they were being graded on being a ninja. Ino chirped out a query as to if she was alright. Sakura's response was petulant, even as she shook her head slightly.

Which was the true answer to the true question and the whole reason Sakura had 'fallen'.

Whatever this was, wherever they were going, whatever weirdness they could all feel creeping over their skin-it was more than a simple _kai_ could break.

Ino narrowed her eyes thoughtfully at the challenge, while pretending she was interested in what sort of fruit was currently available. Her hands, behind her back, signalled Chouji and Sakura that she'd keep the Chuunin busy.

While they figured out what was going on. Of the three of them, she was best suited for this particular distraction. 

* * *

She _really_ didn't like their Chuunin. Not only did he keep referring to them as 'minions' and 'darlings' and once 'cupcakes' but he also gestured as he talked and more than once she'd been forced to duck as his hand was flung out in an expansive manner.

Nobuko hoped the other Genin teams were having such a horrible experience. She hadn't pinned her hopes on it or anything, but all the same, all things considered… she'd wondered how they would handle her participation in the exam.

Clearly they'd decided to treat her like any other Genin. That was probably the smartest thing, truly, as this way the Chuunin in front of them didn't have to know anything about anything and no one else would have a chance to figure things out-but there was a small part of her that still wished for a _little_ preferential treatment, however dangerous that would have been.

Oh well, Nobuko took her petulant thoughts and tucked them away. There was no need for her to mope on things that hadn't happened right now. She ducked another swing (how did he always get within hitting range of her when she'd made certain she was out of his reach?) and frowned at the buildings.

Something was wrong about them but she couldn't put her finger on it. She glanced at Renjiro and arched an eyebrow at him before nodding towards the buildings. Did he have any idea?

He frowned at her, eyebrows furrowing slightly before turning his attention back to the Chuunin. They both ducked again and Nobuko resisted the urge to giggle. This was _stupid_. The Chuunin exam was happening today and they were stuck with this loser of a Chuunin?

It was only training that kept her from jumping at the unexpected touch across her shoulders. It was Minoru and she'd have shoved him off except that here and now was no time to indulge in petty behaviour and one quick, sneaked glance at his face told her he was being serious.

She could put up with being touched for that. Nobuko leaned into his shoulder, casually flipping her hair over his hand and he smiled down at her the way, she thought, a boy was supposed to smile at the one he liked.

Minoru was the best liar of the three of them. Nobuko hated that about him too. Even if it was useful.

They couldn't talk, not with the Chuunin they had, who kept them busy with ducking and jumping as he rattled on, with an edge of nastiness under his cheer. But with her hair to help as cover, they could manage a conversation of sorts.

Minoru's fingers were warm on her upper arm. _Yellow. Not blue. The houses._

Nobuko tilted her head towards him, doing her best to look relaxed and at ease. Even if there were only so many ways Genin could fake and get around a conversation, they had to make it look _good_.

_Paint?_ she replied, but even as she did so, Nobuko knew that was wrong. If they'd painted the houses, they would be able to smell it. There was no smell…

Her eye lashes fluttered. She hadn't noticed before because she could still smell her teammates and the Chuunin smelled like something _vile_, but where were the everyday usual scents? Her fingers tapped out another message, before Minoru could reply to her. _No scents but ours._

_You sure?_

She didn't even hesitate. _Yeah._

So what were they going to do about it? Was this a joke of their Chuunin?

Or was this the exam? 

* * *

It was only Hideki's hand on her shoulder, squeezing warningly, that stopped Sayuri from mouthing off at their Chuunin guide.

Possibly for the best, she acknowledged, with an irritable glance, as she shook herself free. Really, it was like they didn't trust her or something. Didn't they know that she wasn't going to say _why_ she was mouthing off? Already Sayuri had proven that she was a brat of the highest order-continuing that would take both little effort and wouldn't arouse suspicion on the Chuunin's part.

So why couldn't she just keep on being a brat? Other than the small, insignificant fact that the Chuunin might squash her flat as a bug. Which, while highly entertaining to contemplate other people being in that position (her sister, for one) was not so much 'in good fun' when it was herself.

She had no aspirations towards _squashed_ bughood. Or any sort of bughood, for that matter.

With another glance at Hideki and a glare at the Chuunin's slim back (and forcibly reminding herself that just because the Chuunin looked vulnerable didn't mean she was) Sayuri bit her lip and thought furiously.

The thing that had roused her ire was that, as Genin from Kumo, born and raised in Kumo, they knew the village inside and out.

… And what they were walking through right now was the same street, over and over and over. Sayuri wondered if they'd made any progress in getting towards where they wanted to go at all, or if they were merely walking in place and looked like right idiots.

Gauging from the way the woman had been so very ebullient, right from the start, Sayuri rather thought that they were moving in place-that they'd probably gotten about a block from the hotel and then… this.

That was what she would have done anyway.

Making sure to keep her expression irritated-which was easy enough-because the very last thing that they needed was the Chuunin noticing that they'd figured it out, Sayuri's hands flicked out a message in code.

_Trapped,_ her fingers gestured, making it a question. _Exam?_

It almost had to be.

Now what were they going to do to get out of it? That was her second question and, Sayuri rather thought, that it was the more important of the two.

Was this a genjutsu? She watched as Inori stepped up and began talking to the Chuunin. Ostensibly asking about previous exams, which wasn't a topic that she'd have chosen-too easy to get caught that way-but _was_ one that made sense when they were on their way to the first exam.

Supposedly.

Sayuri sniffed, making sure to roll her eyes as the Chuunin went on about the dangers of previous exams. Another tiny bit of misdirection couldn't hurt at this point in the game. They needed every small advantage they could find.

Hideki nodded shallowly at her. She was doing fine-which she'd known, but was pleased to have confirmation anyway-and, carefully, they linked hands. Like they were dating, thought they weren't.

It was, however, the easiest way for her to cover his presence with hers. He had to repress his chakra and she had to let hers burn just slightly brighter. Keep what he was doing off the radar.

First, they had to find out what this was.

Then they were going to bust out of this. No matter what, they were making it past the first exam.

Now… 

* * *

So far, she thought optimistically, they'd not killed Ryouma-san. It was a small victory, but it was definitely one. His voice, as he was still going on and on and _on_, had gotten more grating on her nerves with every word, and Tsubaki was well aware that of her team, she was the one with the longest fuse.

And he was so very close to having her lose it on him. Didn't he _ever_ shut up? Pinching the bridge of her nose, Tsubaki took a deep breath, held it for five seconds, and then exhaled. Right. They were not going to visit violence upon the Chuunin. They were going to get through this exam, with distinction, and after that, and then they would track down the Chuunin and…

Well, Tsubaki thought, peering at him through lowered eyelashes, then he'd find out what they really thought. From the way that Taka and Masanori looked and moved at the moment-Taka was moving far too stiffly to be anything but incredibly annoyed, and Masanori's eyes had gone dark with irritation-she highly doubted that they'd put up any fuss over getting some of their own back when it came to dealing with the Chuunin.

No one got on the nerves of _their_ team and didn't pay for it, for all that as far as anyone knew, they were one of the milder teams.

_But still waters ran deep,_ Tsubaki thought, _and for shinobi they run deeper than most._

As deep as their frustrations ran at the moment, however, it was a pleasure to her to know that all his attempts at distracting them, distracting _her_, and getting their team hopelessly behind… had failed.

Oh, he talked and talked and talked, and they snapped and snipped and backpedalled like pros whenever Tsubaki thought they'd gone one or two steps too far in insulting the Chuunin who was, after all, still their superior in rank. And the trap they were in was a very pretty one indeed-a layered illusion, she thought, and Masanori had agreed with her.

His eyes were better than hers for spotting that sort of thing. It was why she used his aid so much in forming her own brand of illusionary jutsu. Not quite genjutsu, not quite ninjutsu, but taking aspects of both…

It wasn't an easy thing to do, she knew that from her own attempts, and this was a masterpiece of skilful combination. Tsubaki wondered how many of Kumo's nin had to be holding the jutsu up and feeding it chakra. Were they using the same thing on all of the teams?

Like bubbles, perhaps?

Tsubaki sighed, making sure that it coincided with a break in Ryouma-san's speech, as if she were just unutterably exhausted at all of the talking and let her hands fall behind her back casually, but not _too_ casually. Like she wanted to reach for a kunai but didn't dare because they were, after all, a polite team that wanted to make it to the exam.

Taka began arguing with Ryouma-san, buying her time, while Masanori interjected now and then, as if admonishing Taka. Tsubaki contented herself with looking bored out of her mind, as if this happened every day and it really wasn't worth trying to stop it.

Once she was sure that he thought nothing of her movement, Tsubaki wound her fingers carefully, painstakingly, through the seals that would summon one of her chakra melds. It was harder to do when she couldn't see her hands and was working backwards, but Tsubaki knew better than to let that stop her.

A tiny butterfly, pink with energy, slowly formed in the palm of her right hand and she took care not to squish it even while she layered the commands that Tsubaki wanted the butterfly to discover.

_Seek,_ she ordered, keeping it simple. _Find the exit. Then report._

And the butterfly lifted off her hands and she knew without looking the exact moment it faded, becoming one with the illusion around them. Tsubaki could feel her butterfly's existence fluttering against her chakra. She nodded slightly, once, to alert her teammates that so far, all was well.

Now they had to wait. 

* * *

The nice part of everyone thinking you were more than a little dim was that they seldom noticed right away when you figured out more than you were 'supposed' too. Ima nibbled on a strand of hair (already it was coming out of the braid she'd tossed it in, her hair was one battle that she was never going to win) and stared intently at the Chuunin's ass.

At least, that was what it looked like. And admittedly, the appeal of it was still there. But what really held her attention was the way that the pebbles and gravel that they walked on, that had been kicked lose from the streets, were repeating themselves. There was a definite pattern to the grit on the streets and _that_ was unusual.

Twirling her hair around one finger, Ima made sure her expression didn't waver even as she straightened slightly, getting the attention of Akira and Yasuo and catching their eyes. Then, like she hadn't noticed them at all, Ima went back to her staring.

Only her gaze drifted to the ground, deliberately, for a second, before back up. Not rushed, though, for all that it took only seconds. Rushing was the surest way to be caught. Nothing looked guiltier than being in a hurry.

Her gaze was the biggest hint she could give them. Ima hoped that it was enough for them to figure it out. She couldn't do more without giving away that she'd noticed to the Chuunin and she had a funny feeling, now, that the Chuunin wouldn't want them to have noticed. Was this the exam?

Had it already started?

Reluctantly Ima had to admire the tactic if that was the case. It would definitely weed out those who weren't expecting anything.

Unfortunately for their Chuunin, they were fast enough to adapt. Ima let out a girlish sigh, with an emphasis on 'girlish', and was amused when their guide (their captor? their watcher?) twitched.

Apparently he wasn't much into having a girl as cute as her ogling him so openly.

A pity.

Ima hid a smile as Yasuo's chakra slid down her spine and Akira's became muted. She didn't need to see them when years of working with them had attuned her to what they were doing.

When the chakra of her teammates met, she reached behind her with one hand, looking nothing so much as she was going to clasp her hands behind her to look even cuter, and gave the chakra a _twist_ and felt it slide into place. Hiding it in her chakra masked the changes enough that they'd be undetectable.

And now, she thought with satisfaction, things would get done. She didn't bother to glance over her shoulder at Akira and Yasuo.

To all appearances, both of them would be there.

Which was, she thought, true enough in a way. Certainly, both Yasuo and Akira were there. But of the two walking behind her, only one was real and the other was illusion made solid. A pretty little genjutsu.

Akira, now, had free reign to explore and discover the source of the oddities they'd noticed. It had taken the three of them to pull off the deception.

A smile touched Ima's lips.

That, too, was teamwork. 

* * *

The sliver of a toothpick, she'd broken it soundlessly in one of her pockets, was dropped on the ground as they kept walking. Tenten affected not to notice that she'd done anything and no one else gave any sign they'd seen anything either.

That was good, though she wondered if the Chuunin would have said anything even if she _had_ noticed. Though with Neji looking like storm cloud beside the Chuunin it was obvious that their watcher had other things to think about.

On the bright side, Tenten thought, trying to be optimistic, Neji was no longer _truly_ in a bad mood, despite his expression, and while Lee was still vibrating with eagerness, it had taken on a different sort of energy. She didn't think that would be noticeable to the Chuunin, though she wasn't counting on it not being so-that way lay madness and weakness and leaving exploitable loopholes for an enemy to get in-and Tenten cast a glance at the woman's back.

She almost hoped that they would get to try and take her on. Something about her demeanour left Tenten feeling like their Chuunin would be an interesting target. Filing that wish away, there was no chance of her deliberately starting that fight, not here and not now when they were the enemy warily regarded in Kumo. If they started something, they would die.

That much was obvious.

It was really too bad that Neji couldn't easily use his Byakugan. No one would believe him if he tried tripping to get his hair to cover his face-even here, he was known as a genius. She'd heard a few of the hotel workers talking about him the night before and had been careful to note that fact, even though it had been something they'd guessed might be a handicap even before they'd entered Kumo.

Kumo had spent decades, generations, trying to get the secrets of the Byakugan from the Hyuuga. Gai-sensei had made sure that they'd been aware of that though, of course, Neji had already been quite-familiar-with the practice.

So they couldn't try that. If this was an exam, that would be the first thing that they'd look for them to do. And if that was the case, if they were being graded on this, then Tenten didn't doubt that they'd be marked down (fairly or not) for using something so simple and obvious.

Which left Neji playing distraction, by walking near the Chuunin. She couldn't picture him chattering, which he wasn't, and it was luck that had the Chuunin distracted enough by his presence that she didn't appear to be paying as much attention as she should have been to the others of the team.

Her loss.

Tenten didn't feel sorry about that, though she did feel a slight twinge of remorse for Neji. He did so hate to play the distraction and, in his defence, he wasn't the best at it. Too blunt, too arrogant, too _himself_.

And they never did train the shinobi with the thoroughness of the kunoichi in the art of deception at the Academy. That came later, if it ever did, for them.

She nodded slightly as they came across the shard of a toothpick she'd dropped earlier. A loop, then. Of about fifteen meters.

It took only the slightest twitch of her fingers to let Lee know the distance and the time. He didn't acknowledge it. Which, she knew, was his greatest and simplest deception. Usually, when Lee noticed something, he _noticed_ it.

Stage one, complete.

And Operation: Break Out was a go. 

* * *

The Chuunin learned quickly, Sana thought, with mild approval, though it was a bit disgraceful that she'd been able to intimidate him so very easily. He was a Chuunin, she was a Genin. He ought to have been showing more spine. She carefully weighed his faults with what he'd learned and decided, almost regretfully, that he was still in the negatives.

It was too bad that they hadn't gotten a Chuunin who was half decent. But needs must, Sana supposed, and now that she'd taught him what behaviour she'd accept, he would be a much better tool than he'd been before.

Her pleasure at that, muted though it was, was nearly enough to drown out the sticky, clogged feeling in the air that brushed along her skin.

It wasn't anything to do with her lungs, that much she ascertained quickly, and a glance at Kozue and Haruki only confirmed that. They weren't worried, which meant it wasn't something that they were sensitized to.

Not the air itself, then.

That was… almost comforting. If this was a test then it wasn't one that would kill them if they weren't fast enough. Sana wondered if that was an indication of Kumo being soft, or if was a sign of their shrewdness. Killing them in the first exam would only bring the tensions between countries to a head more quickly.

And while there was a certain visceral pleasure to be found in the concept of eliminating all the other teams, strewing their blood and bodies about and claiming, hiding, behind the shield of the exam, Sana thought that Kumo was, truly, altogether rather too prudent for that. Almost a pity, though Sana had no wish to be killed either.

Mass murdering all of the Chuunin hopefuls would serve only to start a war. One where everyone who'd lost Chuunin in the exam would be set against Kumo. Old alliances changed quickly under provocation, she knew that very well. Any child of her father knew _that_ before ever reaching Academy age.

For a moment she permitted herself to wonder what her father would say, were he here to see her. It was a futile thing, truly, for her father never changed what he said, not when it came to advice.

_Only the strong can survive. Do not let me down._

Really, she thought, if it wasn't an order from her father-those five words, always the same-then Sana wouldn't have even bothered to push herself enough to get this far. Such a bother, such a great deal of work.

Nevertheless, she was here. With a yawn discreetly hidden in a raised palm, Sana turned her thoughts away from her father and onto the problem at hand. The air and the feel of it pressing against her lungs.

Sana considered things it might be, systematically, hurriedly, eliminating option after option. That they didn't want them dead at this stage of things meant that, had to mean that, the exam had already started.

Clever, she acknowledged, sparing a moment of pity for those who were less observant. 

* * *

It wasn't arrogance for her to freely and fully admit that, of the teams in the exam, that her's (well, Gaara's, Temari wouldn't fool herself with thinking that she was the one in charge and she certainly wasn't going to argue with Gaara for control of the team; she'd lose) was likely the hardest hitting team there was.

Gaara was a huge part of that, of course, but Temari knew that as far as training went, both Kankurou and her were far more advanced than most of the Chuunin-hopefuls. Which, she thought, returning her gaze to their stoic, bored, Chuunin, was what made this particular exam so very difficult at the moment.

Killing their guide and their challenge all at one would probably count against them. That, she knew, was the only reason that Gaara hadn't done so yet. Not just Gaara, she conceded, knowing that she would have done so too. Uzumaki had gotten through to her brother, yes, and changed him in some ways that Temari hadn't yet figured out…

But this was an exam and they were shinobi.

There were _always_ deaths in the exams, where it was either kill or be killed. No, only the rank of the person in front of them was keeping them alive.

That was a rule in _every_ exam, that they weren't allowed to kill those who helped administer the exam. And their bored, unimpressed guide (and where had they found a Chuunin who didn't _care_ what Gaara was? he had to know that if Gaara lost his temper that he'd be flattened) was definitely part of the exam. Temari grit her teeth, the movement not altering her expression on bit and tried to think of a way to get out of this genjutsu without killing the man.

And for all she knew, killing the Chuunin wouldn't release them from this anyway. It _was_ odd that even while being stuck in the genjutsu that she couldn't sense it. That implied that chakra was being poured into it to both maintain the illusion and to cloak it from being sensed.

And _that_ implied more power than even Gaara had. Especially if they were doing this for every team and Temari rather thought that they had to be, or else it wouldn't be 'fair'. At least, as fair as any shinobi exam could be.

Which was all well and good (they'd figured out that they were in a genjutsu quick enough thanks to being observant) but that left them with a greater dilemma and, frankly, a more important one.

How were they to get out of this without killing their Chuunin?

It was a peculiar thing to be so very concerned about that one point, especially when their Chuunin made so little effort to be likeable or worth saving (and was that, she wondered, part of the point and reason they'd gotten him?) and Temari cast her glance thoughtfully, casually, around.

Sand tugged at her skirt and she reached down, without looking. She shouldn't have been able to feel it, sand didn't normally _do_ that, but it was Gaara and sand listened to him more than it listened to gravity.

As the sand writhed around her fingers, a nearly invisible chain of it, spread so thin it was no more than a grain or two across in any place, Temari smiled faintly, getting Kankurou's attention.

She had an idea. Now she just had to transmit it to them. The sand would help, she thought, and wondered how Gaara had guessed.

Perhaps she'd ask him later. But right now, she had more important things to do. 

* * *

They were going nowhere fast and the only thing that kept her mouth shut about it was the fact that Ryu had a glare on his face that promised trouble if she said anything.

But it was _bo-o-ring!_

And she'd counted and there were only twenty-seven buildings to walk by but they'd past those twenty-seven buildings _three times_ already and yes, alright, maybe it was just that they had very unimaginative builders but-

_Oooooh!_ This was just so frustrating! Couldn't they just _be_ there yet? Couldn't they, couldn't they, couldn't they?

She was practically vibrating with impatience and Ryu's glare was struggling to intensify and Natsu had crossed his arms over his chest. He wasn't happy either! Though, she amended, he wasn't _un_happy either as he still had his faint smile on his face. That was important, with him. Even she knew it.

But she didn't understand why couldn't they _do_ anything? Why were neither of them saying anything? Midori knew Ryu had to have a reason-that was why he was their leader, after all, because he normally had reasons and she rarely had any and Natsu was bad at coming up with them and always left the interesting bits out.

"Is there something the matter?" The Chuunin guiding them asked.

Midori bounced, her hair flying, and said nothing. Nothing at all! She stared wide-eyed at Ryu because he was glaring again and she didn't know why. She wasn't saying anything, she wasn't.

"Nothing is the matter," Ryu replied, his voice curt. "We're just excited."

The Chuunin gave a snort that sounded like he didn't believe them. Midori thought that was kinda rude as she did a cartwheel just to make the walk a little more interesting. She couldn't talk and she wasn't allowed to point out what she'd noticed (and if she'd noticed then that meant Ryu and Natsu had noticed anyway) and so there were only a few things she could do. Cartwheels and spinning as she walked.

Shouldn't the streets have been busier, she wondered, in the middle of a spin.

"Midori."

She perked up, like a hunting dog called to war, and watched Ryu with hopeful eyes. Was he going to tell her to do something? Was he? And then she'd have something to do?

He held his hand out to her and smiled the smile that had cost Shiba's team all their lives in the last exam they'd attended.

Midori smiled back and took his hand. As they walked she swung their hands and wondered how many people would be jealous of her.

But they just didn't get it. They weren't _dating_, they were a _team_.

_Natsu is going to distract the Chuunin,_ Ryu's voice echoed in her head and she kept bouncing as she walked, like it didn't even matter. It didn't, not really. How he was talking never mattered. _When that happens I want you to…_

What mattered was what he _said_. Midori kept bouncing and walking and _listened_ with every fibre of her being.

Since things weren't interesting yet, that meant they had to _make_ them interesting.

This was going to be so much fun! 

* * *

Keeping the Chuunin distracted took a great deal of her thought process as she chattered on feeling a bit like a magpie, of all things, from the way she was skipping topics and muddying the waters and Ino didn't know if the Chuunin really was distracted by what she was talking about and he'd cottoned on to the fact that they weren't as clueless about the situation as they were pretending to be.

It was, well, quite possible, but Ino was going to go with hope and keep doing her best. Every now and then, to get his attention, she picked a line of questioning that bordered not quite, but _almost_, no more than a hair away, from questions that were not the sort a Genin of a hostile (and despite the peace treaties, she was well aware that as far as Kumo was concerned, they were _definitely_ from a hostile village) village ought to get answers to.

The fact that she was asking them was beyond impertinent, of course, but she was a Genin.

There were some things that Genin could get away with that shinobi of higher ranks couldn't. And one of those was the ability to claim ignorance of a touchy subject if it came up in casual conversation. This practically defined casual, as far as meetings between opposing villages went, and her steady stream of other questions, that were utterly unrelated to the more sensitive things, gave her enough of a smoke screen that she knew Asuma-sensei would back her for daring.

Especially as it didn't really _matter_ if she got answers to her questions or not. This was more along the lines of a distraction.

And hiding a distraction within a distraction.

Her talking to the Chuunin (who was, she noted a bit gleefully, beginning to look trapped himself) was level one of her counter-attack. Her next level of her counter was the dangerous questions she wasn't, strictly speaking, supposed to be asking. By daring what she did, that meant the Chuunin had to keep paying attention to her so he didn't slip up and give her information he wasn't supposed to.

How many exams were there going to be?

Don't you think blue eyes are better than black?

Why did he think that a lot of standard sandals are blue instead of black? Wasn't that weird?

What were the defenses around the village like? How many Jounin were stationed there?

She was thinking of growing her hair out but wanted his opinion. What did he think? Short or long?

Did he know that his shirt was coming un-tucked in the back? Did he care?

It wasn't subtle and not nearly as much as she could be, but Ino was rather smug about managing as well as she was. And her questions definitely couldn't be ignored.

The small bit of her attention that wasn't on her conversation and seamlessly managing to skip topics like she was picking out new shirts and hated them all, was wondering what Chouji and Sakura were doing to get them out of this.

This was as much as she could help, this time around, and it grated that she couldn't let a single hint of her annoyance at being left out of planning through. Not that it was their fault, and she was enjoying her part of the exam…

But still.

She would have preferred doing more.

Needs musts, she scolded herself, and kept talking. This was important work and she knew it and Sakura wasn't good at carrying a conversation unless she was genuinely into it and, here Ino was chagrined to realize, she didn't know how good Chouji was at this sort of thing.

That thought gave her something to consider and kept her happy while running verbal circles around the Chuunin. It was something that she couldn't help but enjoy, even if that probably wasn't the best trait to promote in herself.

Enjoying the consternation of someone else.

Better, she thought virtuously, than enjoying their pain.

Sakura tripped, again, and Ino fluted a question in her direction.

The answer back was one she approved of. They were ready. Everything was fine.

So many things could be hidden in a common phrase like that.

Which was why, three minutes later, Ino wasn't surprised when the earth buckled and the illusion around them torn in fragmented ligaments.

And she ducked away from the Chuunin, slipping out through the cracks of the jutsu like water running down a hill, and ran, with her team, for the examination area.

It was an odd time to miss Shikamaru, right after getting through the first exam, but she did. Ino wondered what he would have thought for a moment, and then shook her head.

This was no time to be thinking of people who weren't even around. She picked up her pace, gratified that Chouji and Sakura did too, and said, conversationally, "So, who wants to tell me how you guys broke that?" 

* * *

In a way, it was true that when it came to bloodlines and special abilities, that they were hopelessly out-matched. Of the teams that Konoha had sent, Nobuko was painfully aware that her team was the only one that had no one from a clan that had specialized abilities. All of them were from shinobi families, yes, but there was a world of difference between a family and a _clan_ and most of that involved powers and abilities and natural inclinations.

But on the other hand, that wasn't a bad thing.

They'd been chosen _anyway_ and that was something to be proud of. They hadn't needed bloodline limits or specialized abilities to get them this far, to get their Hokage to acknowledge that they were one of the teams that was good enough to attend the exam in Kumo.

Nobuko was determined that, whatever else happened, they were going to get further than just 'attending'. If only to prove that a team that had been aptly termed 'nothing special' could do so.

They were all shinobi. They _all_ had worth.

Renjiro and Minoru were arguing, it had come to shoving and pushing, and Nobuko was ignoring it with the air of someone who was utterly bored by it. They weren't fighting. They were discussing options for how to get out of here. Unlike her and Minoru, they couldn't exactly use the same method to pass the information-if only because Renjiro objected to it. Minoru never expressed any preference.

Which, she knew, was a good thing.

A shinobi couldn't afford to be picky at their level. That would limit their growth and they couldn't take the setbacks that would come with that sort of situation. Not now, not when they had to rely on what every shinobi could know and use that to get out of here. Nothing special, no tricks up their sleeves.

At least, she amended, nothing to do with their blood.

As Genin, they definitely had tricks up their sleeves. That was what they were supposed to do and she did so hate to not live up to expectations.

Nobuko gauged the 'fight' with cool eyes and ducked another blow from the Chuunin.

"Do you have to do that?" she asked, her voice vaguely curious but mostly deliberately indifferent.

"Just making sure you know how to dodge, cupcake," their Chuunin rumbled with a smile that still didn't touch his cold eyes. Somehow, she thought, that made him seem creepier.

And the fight between Minoru and Renjiro had taken on a cadence that she recognized. They were building chakra, but passing it back and forth between each other so that it would slide under the radar for a little bit longer. Minoru caught her gaze and arched an eyebrow imperiously.

Nobuko scoffed. It was a way to hide the smile.

She could give them a signal, sure.

"Have you met many Genin that didn't know how to dodge?" she asked the Chuunin, sounding dry even to her own ears. "Ones that had been out of the Academies for more than, oh, a day?"

"You'd be surprised," he replied, rolling his shoulders. "Some people are very very good at getting further than they ought."

"Oh really?"

The Chuunin slanted a glance at her. She supposed her tone, having suddenly gone chill, had disconcerted (or at least mildly interested) him. "Got a problem, sweetcheeks?"

"Oh no," she said, keeping her voice set on something that might have been airy if it hadn't been so very _empty_. "But I think you're going to have one." She lifted her voice, just enough for her boys to hear. "After all, we're not the only ones who might need dodging practice."

And the compressed chakra that Renjiro and Minoru had built exploded outward, shaking the illusion they were in and ripping it off the seams.

Nobuko ducked under and through a tear and was followed by her team. They could hear the Chuunin yelling.

They ran for the examination area. 

* * *

Whatever they were in, Sayuri thought with disgust, was quite _bizarre_. And while she hadn't been expecting them to stick them in an easy to get out of jutsu, she didn't really think that they'd needed to criss-cross chakra lines so much that they looked, to her senses, to be hopelessly muddled.

But there was strength in that sort of combination and even as they walked, her and Hideki still hand in hand-he was providing cover for her chakra usage now-while Inori talked to the Chuunin, unwillingly, reluctantly, she had to admire whatever threats had been used to get all of the shinobi involved in the jutsu to cooperate.

That wasn't the sort of thing that came easily to Kumo shinobi, as she was well aware. (As, Sayuri was uncomfortably sure, that she rather embodied quite nicely all on her own when it came to cooperation and the difficulties with, it was hard to remain unaware of just how much trouble it caused in Kumo itself.)

All of us, her mother would say, embody the village in a smaller form.

So in a weird way, her problems were the village's problems too. That wasn't very comforting, so she put it out of her mind for the moment. She had to focus.

Her world had to be narrowed down to chakra strings, all hopelessly, deliberately, stubbornly tangled. All of that in order to warp the perceptions of every Genin in the exam. The amount of work it would have taken to do this took her breath away. She couldn't imagine putting for the effort, working with people, as much as this would take.

_Focus_.

Sayuri knew that part of her distraction came from the fact that, in this state, her chakra was travelling along, just besides, all of the lines that held them imprisoned. It was hard to focus when your mind was literally split into hundreds of pieces. Nonetheless, she had to do so.

So she would. Because she was a shinobi of Kumo and because there was _no way_ she was letting Tsubaki get past this and leaving her in the dust even though this was, admittedly, far more Tsubaki's style of jutsu than hers.

Stupid illusions.

Definitely not her style of choice. But in this exam, she didn't exactly have a choice.

On the bright-side, Sayuri mused, as Hideki's hand tightened around hers in what she thought was a warning-that she'd better hurry up with what she was doing because Inori was only going to be able to distract the Chuunin for a little while longer-though of course, she couldn't check to make sure that was what he meant, it was more a feeling than anything else. The squeeze didn't feel _urgent_ and she couldn't explain it better than that.

Sometimes, even though cooperation was hard, you just had to trust your team.

That was a lesson that had taken her a great deal of time to learn but one that she was determined not to mess up. At least, Sayuri conceded, not during the exam. Not if she could help it.

And illusion could be broken many, many ways.

She knew that there was no way she'd be able to get through it with true finesse, but Sayuri rather thought that, unless she missed her guess, that this exam was about getting out of it-period. That meant, what she had in mind would be more than sufficient.

Visualization was one of the basics of illusion. Since she was already seeing the underpinnings of the jutsu as strings, it was simplicity in and of itself to create a pair of scissors by imagining her chakra to appear that way.

Even easier to cut the strips.

_Snip!_ went her imaginary scissors.

And she tumbled out of the chakra lines as the jutsu fell apart around them, feeling triumphant. Hideki tugged at her hand, pulling her into a run as she got her bearings.

They knew where the next exam would be held. That was where they needed to be.

One exam down. 

* * *

The waiting game made time drag on interminably. Which, Tsubaki knew, wasn't the fault of the time, but rather a fault of her own perceptions and impatience. Yet another thing that she would have to correct in order to be as good as she could be. Another thing to correct.

Ah well.

That wasn't the end of the world, she thought calmly, looking as serene as it was possible to be considering they were in the midst of an exam. Ryouma-san kept talking, she kept pretending she was listening, Taka kept asking questions and Masanori walked beside her.

And her chakra butterfly slowly worked its way through the layers of jutsu that were encasing them. At least three layers, Tsubaki thought, smoothing a bit of imaginary lint off her sleeve. That was impressive.

Impressive enough that she wondered how long it had taken them, the Cloud-nin involved in designing and powering the jutsu to make so many mistakes in the localization. There was so much power giving the jutsu form that she couldn't imagine that the mistakes were due to sloppiness.

Perhaps they were deliberate?

What point would there be to an exam where no one passed from the beginning? No point, of course. Which pointed to the idea that this jutsu had been created with the flaws in it on purpose. Which would mean that they weren't mistakes at all.

Her pride in her village appeased-it was far more compatible to think that they'd messed up the fundamentals of genjutsu on purpose than it was to think they'd just screwed up worse than an Academy student-Tsubaki tried to decide if they had made the same 'mistakes' for everyone or if it was all different.

Impossible to decide without more information of course, but that was part of the fun-and it was far better than actually listening to Ryouma-san going on and on and on.

Honestly, weren't girls the ones who were supposed to be known for talking all the time?

Her butterfly twitched its wings excitedly, sending reverberations down the frail lines of chakra that Tsubaki had left to let her keep track of it, and she shifted her head, like her neck was itchy, and allowed one hand to drift up to scratch at the itch.

Which in her cupped hand, coalesced into her tiny little messenger. Wings beat rapidly against her palm and Tsubaki hid the smile that brought her. It was a small, ticklish sensation and giving away her mood because of something so ridiculous would absolutely ruin her day, so the smile was kept tucked away.

And she carefully, oh so carefully, began drawing the butterfly's energy back into her. As she did so, the knowledge of the jutsu trap they were in, was transferred to her. She lowered her hand after the last of the butterfly had disappeared and outwardly reacted not at all to what she had learnt.

Inside, where only a mind reader would be able to know what was on her mind, her thoughts raced, mingled with exultation and a peculiar, muted, sort of giddiness.

A _cascade_. The jutsu was set up to _cascade_.

That meant she only needed to knock out one section, at the right time, and everything would come tumbling down around them. She wondered if after the exam she could find someone who would teach her the jutsu. It was _brilliant_-both in the simple way it had been constructed and in the way that it could be taken out.

There were, she thought, other ways to take it out. But why use an inelegant one that would impress nobody, when she could use a more refined method that had a surer chance of success without being caught?

She twisted a bit of hair in one hand, which was a habit she loathed in others and never used for herself. But that made it a good signal for her to use.

So many girls did it. Why wouldn't she?

Her chakra, twisted around her finger, and sharper than the sharpest blade, and barely as noticeable as a spider web's finest filament, waited.

Waited…

Masanori and Taka were ready and… right _there_ was the weakest spot.

Tsubaki slid her chakra blade, so thin as to almost be a needle through the jutsu and _pulled_.

Soundlessly, the jutsu fell apart, with not even so much as a ripple to mark its passing.

As they bolted, away from their Chuunin, Tsubaki permitted herself a smile.

It _had_ been a clever bit of work. 

* * *

Ima couldn't help but wonder how many people would have screamed at the feel of invisible arms wrapping around their waists. It was a disconcerting feeling, to be sure, but not one that made her want to scream. Just her teammate and she was well used to him. Ima leaned back without looking like she was leaning back because to all eyes (except, perhaps, a Hyuuga's?) Akira was invisible and so she probably looked more like she was just stretching a little.

After all, they'd been walking for a good little while. Having a stretch wasn't so out of the norm as to be noticeable and she could handle that sort of deception just easily. Even staring at the Chuunin's bum had to get boring after a while, however much it amused her that he was so very _twitchy_ about it.

Akira's voice murmured in her ear, drawing her attention away from her own pleasures and back to the game at hand. That was, she figured, rather more important. "The weakest point is under our feet. It's circular but ends at the ground."

'It' being the jutsu, of course.

Ima considered that for a moment, part of her happy just to have Akira arms around her, which was nothing personal, she just liked being touched, before answering in a whisper that travelled only as far as it needed to. "We don't have earth jutsu," she replied, her eyes studying the strong back of the Chuunin and trying to see if he had noticed anything. "Go for where earth and jutsu meet instead. Unless Yasuo-?"

"No," was the response, "he thinks the same as you do."

But it took the three of them to make the decision. That was how it should be, she thought contented with the fact that their team, at least, had that worked out. Ima had heard stories of teams that managed teamwork sometimes but not always and that was _dangerous_. She wondered if Sakura-san's team would show the strains of being tossed together during the exam.

She wondered if it would be exciting to watch.

"Can you get the edges by yourself?" she asked, forcing her mind back on the task at hand. Her weakest point was her concentration and she knew it. "Or do you need us?"

Help had to be freely offered, always.

"Feed me chakra," Akira said, with a squeeze of his arms. "And I'll take care of it."

Ima shifted a bit, at the hug, and carefully, cautiously, spooled her chakra up through her pathways to slip out her back and into him. It was dangerous, this, and they weren't really supposed to transfer chakra at all unless someone was in mortal danger, but since he was using it right away… the risks were minimal.

It was a more brute force method of transference than what the medical nin did, but it worked and that was all they really needed.

One last squeeze and Akira was gone. Now it was a waiting game.

Comparatively, she supposed, feeling peculiarly energized from the drain on her chakra, it didn't take long for Akira to unhook the illusion enough for them to sneak out of it. It just felt like forever.

But the running after felt nice, and so did the fact that they were that much closer to being through this.

_Careful,_ her first sensei's voice murmured, _arrogance will destroy you._

She ignored the warning, like she always did. After all, she was the one who was alive and he wasn't.

Who was he to talk about arrogance? 

* * *

The hardest part of any plan was the waiting.

It didn't help, truly, that her team was so full of, as Gai-sensei would say, 'youthful vigour' that they rarely constructed their plans around waiting. A pause for a signal, setting a watch, following a tail, all of that they did frequently.

But it was harder when all they had to do was wait.

Tenten envied Neji.

Not only was he, of the three of them, the most patient, but he had the task of breaking this, now. Lee, with all the energy of a toddler hyped up on sugar (some of that was faked, she thought, but knew a great deal of it wasn't) had taken Neji's place as distraction to the Chuunin and going on and on and on about…

Well, she _thought_ he'd been talking about curry. But then he'd gotten metaphorical and Tenten was too busy keeping her chakra level and covering Neji's back to follow the rest of what Lee was talking about.

In all fairness, she probably didn't want to know. Tenten _knew_ that particular rhythm of his words and thought he'd probably gone off into the land where only Gai-sensei seemed to be able to understand him. A fond smile tugged slightly at her lips. She didn't have to understand him to care about him.

It wasn't easy to spread her chakra out in what Neji termed almost a blanket, to cover the area they were in and desensitize those in it to the feel of her energy. A way of hiding in plain sight, it fell under Akiko's Principles of Chakra.

_A familiar chakra can do more than an unfamiliar one because subconsciously we recognize the chakra and our guard is lowered._

Simple in theory, harder in execution.

At least when it came to forcing that needed familiarity onto a total stranger. She had to do it carefully, subtly, and while looking like she wasn't doing anything at all. Tenten could feel beads of sweat snaking down her back but was glad her hitae-ite would keep any from doing the same down her face.

She couldn't keep her sweat from giving her away. Tenten didn't know _any_ shinobi who could do that. So it had to be concealed.

And so did this.

Neji was the most likely to be able to get through the illusion itself (a _kai_, done silently and cautiously when the Chuunin had been distracted, proved that it wasn't something they could simply dispel) and her part in it, while hard, expended less chakra.

She still had less than he did. Tenten brushed off that annoyance and smoothed the edges of her chakra down, slipping them seamlessly against the Chuunin's chakra.

Chakra meeting chakra was the easiest way to force familiarity. Doing it with brute force was easy and took no time at all. Blending the trailing edges of their chakra together took more work and more time but was much harder to notice.

Tenten let out her breath, keeping it casual through force of effort. Then she nodded her head, like she'd been thinking something through and had come to a conclusion.

Neji would know that was his signal.

As did Lee who, with his guileless smile, went from talking (something about a breeze perfumed with rose?) to a blur of green. Their Chuunin fell, sprawled out on the ground and Neji, his Byakugan active, began his work as the illusion became dotted first with what looked like pinpricks of light that began expanding and connecting to one another as he worked.

Lee checked the Chuunin to make sure he hadn't killed him with the blow to the back of his head and from his smile when he rose, Tenten knew he hadn't. She hadn't thought he would-Lee always judged the strength of his blows well-but it was a worry of his and it was nice to see is assuaged.

She pulled her chakra back, slicking it down under her skin and shook her head. Always after doing something like that, it felt like there were bees buzzing in her head. Not an irritancies, but yet another thing she would have to pay attention to for the next half an hour.

Neji, with a final narrowing of his eyes, brought the illusion down around them. "Let's run," he said, and was off, long black hair flying out behind him.

Tenten was grinning as she followed. 

* * *

The longer they walked, the more Sana felt like they weren't really walking at all: that they were drowning, instead, in a trap designed to confuse them. While part of her admired the workmanship that had to have gone into a jutsu as thorough and convincing as this one, most of her was rather… irritated.

Drowning wasn't a pleasant feeling, after all, and this had gone on quite long enough as far as she was concerned. Theory after theory had been systematically eliminated and now she thought that she'd narrowed it down to one of two principals that this jutsu rested on.

But was it Murakami's Principal of Reality, or Takahara's Geomental Inversion Principal? Or, perhaps, some combination of both? _That_ did not thrill her at all. One of them would be a pain enough to counter, two of them would be worse.

Though, of course, they were up to the challenge.

They would not have been sent by Kusagakure no Sato, if they weren't. And so far, so _far_, this exam was more of a thought challenge, a reactionary challenge, than anything truly dangerous.

It was, Sana reminded herself wearily, only the first exam. They had to have something easy at the start to weed out the simpletons who'd thought that lady luck would smile on them and who hadn't yet realized that lady luck only smiled on those who made their own luck.

And that took skill.

As Sana took another breath that felt like she was swallowing water, she made up her mind. Now she just had to tell her teammates of her decision.

"Tell me," she drawled, in a bored and dry tone of voice to the Chuunin whom she'd scared into submission (how dull, really, why couldn't they have gotten a Chuunin with some _fire_ to them? that would have been far more interesting…), with a tilt of her head. "Do you know Takahara Jun?"

A different Takahara entirely than the one that she was inquiring about now. The one she was asking about was a Jounin of Kumo and the sensei of another team. She wasn't supposed to know that. She did anyway.

As the Chuunin gave her a wide-eyed look of apprehension, which only heightened her contemptuousness of him, a small part of her was pleased nonetheless.

So the Takahara that her father had mentioned was involved in the exam. Wasn't that _interesting?_ There was no time to think of it now, but it would have to be kept in mind…

And her teammates knew exactly which Principal that she, Sana, had decided was the more likely, and the one they were to try first. Besides, with a Cloud-nin, it was better to use a name he would recognize in order to throw him more off balance. Even though, she thought, he was wondering how a mere Genin from another village knew one of their Jounin.

Between shinobi, there were only so many ways that was possible, and few of them boded well. She smiled slightly, dangerously. "Well," she prodded, "have you an answer for me? Or did you not hear what I said?"

Truly, they had to have gotten the most pathetic Chuunin of them all. Even as she thought that, she revised it, because a Chuunin could be lying to them and they'd never know it. It was better to be careful.

_Be careful,_ her father would say, _but never allow that to keep you from acting._

So she wouldn't.

And as the Chuunin stammered out information she already knew, Sana kept on smiling faintly as the air around them went a shocking violet before shimmering into a sharp cobalt blue.

Takahara's Geomental Inversion it was. The Chuunin gave no sign of having noticed the disruption of the jutsu but then, even if he was a better liar than she gave him credit for, he wouldn't have noticed this.

In order to break it, the first step required limiting the counter-jutsu to those who would be part of it. Herself, Kozue, and Haruki.

She took a deep breath, her hands loose at her side, and compacted her chakra into a hard ball, a glowing mass, situated just above her heart. Haruki would take the mind, Kozue would take the groin.

"I think," she all but purred, the condensed chakra making her feel _good_ as she talked to the Chuunin, "that you're not telling me everything."

Of course he wasn't.

But more importantly, that phrase was a trigger, and the cobalt air around them broke, snapping into a thousand pieces, as the illusion fell apart around them.

_Once again,_ she thought, as the Chuunin's expression changed to shock and they fled for where they'd been _told_ the examination was to take place, _intelligence sees us through._

Point to me.

Point to _them_. 

* * *

When it came down to it, Temari knew that she owed her youngest brother a thank you after this exam. It was his sand that had given her the idea and it was his sand that let her get the idea from herself to the both of them to go over and dissect.

She probably owed Kankurou thanks too, for his refinements to her basic idea, but thanking him generally led to him being insufferably smug and Temari rather thought she'd spare herself that during an exam when there was quite enough to think about and deal with already without giving Kankurou something to lord over her.

Ah, siblings.

As for the Chuunin… well, this way wouldn't hurt him at all. This was a new procedure for her team but not one that Temari was particularly against. There was no harm in leaving him alive and all the reason in the world to not touch him. Besides which, she glanced through her eyelashes at him, if he was a Chuunin for real then she was a civilian.

The pulse of his chakra, which they'd picked up on almost immediately once Kankurou had begun slipping his chakra through the sand that Gaara was trickling stealthily out of his gourd, was both too controlled and too honed, for lack of a better word, to belong to a Chuunin.

So they had a Jounin on their hands.

She wondered if they were just 'lucky' or if all teams had Jounin who were faking being Chuunin. Temari thought it might be the latter. In this kind of an exam, to sense everything that was going on…

Well, their job was to get away without being sensed as much as possible. Contemplating if the other teams were facing a harder challenge than they knew (or was it harder, if the Jounin were under orders to act as Chuunin-that limited their ways to react to situations as well because they had to keep up the charade…) was a waste of her time.

As Gaara murmured a question to their Jounin, Temari brought her hands together and formed three quick seals but didn't complete the fourth, the one that would trigger the jutsu, yet. She had to wait for Kankurou to be ready.

That, she didn't mind. Patience in this sort of situation came easily and Temari contented herself with holding the jutsu and damping down on her chakra as much as possible to keep their Jounin from noticing it on a Chuunin-level. It would be gratifying if they could keep him from noticing it on a _Jounin_ level but Temari wasn't going to count on it. Arrogance was one thing. Being a fool was quite another and assuming they were better than an enemy Jounin who they had absolutely no information on… would make them fools.

Kankurou scraped his sandal against the gravel. His signal. It could have been something that happened by accident-at least, that was what they figured people who didn't know them would think. They had to take some risks. Gaara dropped back, as if he was dissatisfied with the answers the Jounin had given him.

She completed her jutsu the same moment that Kankurou completed his.

They sank into the ground even as illusions, built with sand to give them solid force, took their place without a hitch or a pause or even a waver to indicate that something had gone on. They would follow the Jounin for a while before dissipating.

And they were now under the jutsu that had held them captive. If they hadn't been surrounded by dirt and rock, she would have grinned. As it was, she directed the jutsu, powered now by Gaara feeding some of his chakra through her, to slide them out from under the area the jutsu was locked on.

Then they'd pop back to the surface and get going.

Simple, she thought, and approved. 

* * *

By this point, it was true, she was fidgeting so much that she either looked like she had to go to the bathroom _really_ badly, or like she was seconds away from a full-out spasm, but she just couldn't help it.

Waiting was hard! Hard! Why did she still have to wait?

With an extra bounce in her step, she glanced at Natsu with big eyes. Ryu's hand tightened in hers, a silent warning for her to stop being so obvious.

Hurriedly, she obeyed, even though she didn't see what was so obvious about it. Yes, alright, she'd be staring but really she'd been all over the place before and wasn't it weirder that she just stayed now where she was and held the hand of Ryu?

Maybe, she thought, tilting her head like a cat considering prey, as her hair tumbled over her eyes, it was because she was girl and he was a boy and most of the girls she knew about from the Academy in Iwagakure were all over the boys right now.

Hmph.

That was annoying! It was things like that that had everyone thinking she was dating her teammate because they held hands. She wasn't, wasn't, _wasn't_. His jutsu needed it and he was her anchor. They had reasons within reasons to hold hands.

And she wasn't staying still because of a stupid crush on a stupid boy either! So there! She huffed, letting her bounce end with a little more force than it usually did just to express her irritation. Really, if Ryu hadn't been holding her hand (like her leash, she thought, and that didn't bother her at all) then she would have done cartwheels in an attempt to burn some energy. But he was and so she had to settle for a more ominous sort of bounce.

Not, she amended, her thoughts catching up with her reasoning (or was that the other way around?) that Ryu was a stupid boy, no.

But waiting! It was going to be the death of her.

She knew that Natsu was working as efficiently as he could but part of her wished that she could just, like, get it over with and maybe sacrifice a little of that efficiency for speed. Surely it wouldn't be so bad just the once?

Or maybe it would.

That was probably why it wasn't for her to decide. Even if, she fidgeted, she really wished that they would hurry up. It was a good plan. She liked the plan. She wanted to put it into action _now_.

_Patience._ Ryu's voice echoed in her head, soothing her, and sounding exasperated. _You'll need patience if you want to make Chuunin._

Her fidgeting stilled so abruptly it was like someone had thrown a switch in her mind.

Not his words, no.

But Natsu had just given the signal and without saying anything in response to Ryu's likely very good point, she tugged her hand free.

Her eyes flashed, glowing orange, as she slipped her hands through a set of seals only her family could use (because her family was better than anyone's, so _there_) and there was a breathless pause as their Chuunin became aware that something was happening behind him (silly thing! like a particularly dim puppy!) and then her body exploded into a hundred million particles.

_Free!_ She was free!

And she was converging on the Chuunin, faster than sound, faster than light, specks of her sinking into his skin, travelling through the bloodstream, through muscles, through the nervous system. A hundred million bits of her, a hundred million ways to incapacitate him.

It really _was_ too bad that she couldn't kill him, Midori thought wistfully, as she wrapped herself around his brain like a very lethal hat.

But Ryu had said she couldn't.

So she wouldn't.

She just had to paralyze him while outside, out there, stuck in their bodies, Natsu and Ryu were working on snapping the wrongness around them.

Midori liked her part in the plan better and contented herself with making their Chuunin's muscles jump and twitch under her influence. That was much more fun and, some minutes later, it was with great reluctance that she let him go, collapsed like a puppet with cut strings as her body reformed.

She didn't mind the running that followed, though. 

* * *

The examination place was easy to find. Almost _too_ easy, Ino thought, as they entered the building warily. After the whole situation with their Chuunin, it was simplicity in and of itself to be suspicious.

Which, in truth, they were supposed to be anyway, being shinobi.

"How many groups," she murmured, "do you think got out of that jutsu? Do you think it affected everyone?"

As she walked, she kept an eye on the building around them-the walls, ceiling, and floors. It looked like any other building, albeit plain and far larger, but Ino almost felt like she was back in the Academy, with the whitewashed walls and dark wood flooring. Most of the doors were closed, but the few that were opened looked like they might have been classrooms at one point.

The only odd thing about it was the general air of disuse that hung over everything. There wasn't any dust and lime-scented cleaner lingered in the air but there was still something about it that felt… desolate. Maybe it was the lack of noise.

"It's hard to say," Sakura replied, her voice equally as hushed. "Considering that we were told the exam would start when we _got_ here and we had to notice that we were in a jutsu before we could formulate a way to get out of it…"

Ino wrinkled her nose, pigtails brushing her shoulders. "Not too many then, huh? Good for a starter. I still don't know when they activated the jutsu," she admitted, with a faint flush.

Sakura shrugged, a bit helplessly, like she didn't know either.

"When we left the hotel," Chouji said confidently. "That would have been the only time they could really assure all of us were going through the same place-they could have set a trigger that would activate on each team as they went over the threshold. They _did_ insist on having each team go out separately."

It made sense. Ino didn't like it, but it _did_ make sense.

"We'll probably never know for sure," she sighed, reaching up to toy with her glasses. "Which is a shame, because the construction of that jutsu had to be a work of art."

They turned down a hall, following the bright red arrows that pointed them on their way to the next exam, and spotted two Chuunin wearing hitae-ite emblazoned with Kumo's symbol. One was tall, the other short. Above the door, which was plain with a tiny barred window (which Ino had to admit, didn't thrill her) was a clock that gave her the information that it was quarter to eleven.

They'd spent forty-five minutes dealing with the jutsu and getting their asses here. Something to remember—it certainly hadn't felt like that long. Had there been a time component to the jutsu as well?

As they approached, the taller of the two cracked a grin that lit up his whole face.

He was cute, she admitted reluctantly. He had lovely blue eyes and a smile that was super friendly.

He was still a shinobi of Kumo.

"Team Sarutobi, from Konoha?" he checked, and Ino spotted, perhaps thinking about what Chouji had said about doors being a good threshold for setting jutsu that were meant to activate under certain conditions, inked patterns in the doorframe.

"That's us," she said, deliberately sounding a bit empty-headed.

No shinobi worth their rank would _really_ believe that, but consistency and keeping up a front sometimes got really unexpected dividends.

"Go on through," he replied, giving them a considering, speculative look.

They passed him and as she walked through the doorway, which turned out to be at the top of a long flight of stairs, a stiff cool breeze washed over them.

Ino checked herself, but didn't notice anything different. Sakura and Chouji looked equally confused.

The Chuunin who smiled a lot laughed. "Look at that," he commented nonchalantly, "you are who you say you are."

Ino tossed her head, which even she knew had looked more impressive when her hair had been longer. "Of course we are," she said loftily.

Sakura giggled. Chouji rolled his eyes. Ino's grin widened.

They couldn't be anyone else, after all.

With that, she continued down the stairs, Sakura and Chouji following. The stairs went on for longer than she wanted to think about. If she stopped and thought about it, then she'd have to admit that they were underground.

Ino didn't want to be underground. Her stomach twisted with nerves and she took a deep breath to steady herself. She was _fine_. They were still in part of the Academy. This was probably just another class room.

Maybe they were doing a paper exam, like the one where Naruto had stood up and mouthed off to the head of Torture & Interrogation.

Ino could hope.

The room they finally entered gave more credence to her hopes. Rows of desks and other Genin who glanced at them as they entered, then away. She spotted a small girl with hair that reminded her of Naruto's god-awful clothing (_orange_) chattering a mile a minute to two boys, who were so hot it should have been illegal for them to exist, were having their own conversation. Their hitae-ite marked them as Genin from Iwa. Long-time enemies of Konoha, then. It didn't change the fact that they were mighty _fine_ though and Ino's gaze lingered contemplatively for a moment before moving on.

Another girl lounged, that was the only word for it, across three chairs and studied her nails so intently it was like the rest of the room could perish and her nails would still be more important. Her hair was long and well cared for. The boys who had to be her teammates were perched on the desks by her and talking quietly amongst themselves. Kusa-nin. Ino marked them, if only because Kusa-nin were _known_ for their bad tempers.

A group of what resolved itself to be two teams, both from Kumo, were seated in one corner, the two girls, who looked enough like each other that it was obvious they were sisters, maybe even twins (same dark hair, same dark skin, same eyes and facial structure), were arguing. Their hands flashed as they gestured while they argued. Their teammates didn't seem to notice the animosity or, perhaps, Ino thought, they were so used to it that it was simply the norm.

Rock Lee was enthusing about something or other to Ima, who'd gotten (by the look on her face) trapped in a conversation with him. Ino fought back a smile as she nodded her head at Tenten and got a nod back. Gaara was conspicuously on the opposite side of the room from Rock and his brother, the puppeteer, looked exasperated over something.

"Front and center," Ino murmured and Chouji nodded, leading the way. It wasn't a 'cool' spot to sit, but it would give them the best view to study the other teams without looking like they were studying them.

Maybe fifty teams, she thought, give or take a few. That was a _huge_ reduction from the number that had been present at the hotel.

Sakura hissed and Ino glanced over. The Oto team had made it through. She couldn't decide if that was a good thing or not, though there was no mistaking how Sakura felt: it was good because it gave them a chance to go after them.

Ino took her seat cautiously, while looking as if she hadn't had a care in the world, and studied the rest of the Chuunin hopefuls avidly, through the cover of lowered lashes.

It was maybe fifteen minutes later that the door behind them clanged shut with the heavy ringing sound of metal. Dust exploded at the front of the very large class room and when it cleared, five Jounin stood there.

A man with long hair done in cornrows and black eyes stepped forward. His voice was a rumble so deep it was almost painful to listen to, but a pin could have been dropped and they would have heard it in the hushed silence of the room. They had no problems hearing him.

"All of those in this room," he said, with a hard-edged grin. "Have passed the first exam. But don't worry, it's only going to get harder from here. Maki, if you would?"

* * *

Please review!


	23. Chapter 15: Blind I

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 15 Blind (Part I)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Word Count: 7,584  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 15 of ? Unbeta'd. 

* * *

The view from the top of the Academy wasn't bad, Asuma thought, a smoke dangling from his fingers as he studied the layout of the village with critical eyes. He'd been a shinobi of Konohagakure no Sato for far too long to allow the chance to get a good glimpse of the layout of another hidden village go to waste.

The nicotine fix he got from his cigarette (which he'd been told he couldn't light up inside) was a bonus. But a pleasant bonus. Asuma wished all bonuses were so pleasant.

He tilted his head back as he took a long drag and shifted from foot-to-foot in an attempt to make himself more comfortable against the wide, wrought-iron fence that enclosed the roof.

From the state of the rooftop, Asuma was fairly certain that they Academy used it as a training ground. There, what looked like a scorch mark. There, what looked like dent that had been made by a kunai. That was interesting. He wondered exactly what they taught up here.

Not that it really mattered, but then again… how was he to know what information might or might not come in handy? That was his excuse, at least.

"Ryo for your thoughts?" Hamada Reiko's warm, rich voice held the hint of a laugh.

Asuma offered her a slightly wicked grin as he turned. He was pretty sure that he was maybe, almost, head over heart for a certain red-eyed kunoichi back in Konoha, but there was nothing wrong with looking.

Nothing wrong at all.

And Hamada's body was worth a stare or five. She was five seven and generously curved and every inch of her body (which was shown off by a bodysuit of reinforced fishnet, under a mini-skirt and tank top) was honed and toned to what could reasonably be called really damn attractive.

Her honey blonde hair and deep green eyes did her looks no harm either. He preferred dark haired girls. But he had to admit that Hamada made a compelling case for the blonde persuasion.

"Only a ryo?" Asuma replied, with a laugh as the other Konoha shinobi joined him at the railing. "I feel like I've been insulted."

"If I wanted to insult you, then you'd know," she teased, with a smile on her lips.

"Ouch," he murmured, which made her laugh. "That's kinda harsh, isn't it?"

"Harsh?" she echoed lightly. "Do you really think so?"

"Nah," he said, with a drag on his cigarette. "Bet you're as gentle as a butterfly. One of those giant ones in Ame." He'd had nightmares for weeks about them the first time he'd been sent on a mission there, back when he'd been nothing but a wet behind the ears Genin himself. Butterflies weren't meant to be the size of horses or larger as far as Asuma was concerned.

"Those are poisonous," Reiko observed, leaning against the railing. "I'll take that as a compliment."

"If you want to," he said, with a glance at her. "Probably a good one for a kunoichi." Maybe he should have saved it for Kurenai…? Nah, she'd just laugh at him.

"I will," she said, "if only because compliments are rare on the ground here." Her eyes crinkled at the corners, a laugh in them. "Who would admit that a kunoichi of the leaf was worth anything here?"

"Their loss. Your kids pass the first round?" he asked, having paid enough attention to make sure _his_ kids had, and then bailed for studying the city. Gai would tell him anything important in who passed and failed later anyway, so he figured some multi-tasking was a more useful application of his time.

"They did." There was no mistaking the fact that she was pleased. "And yours?"

Asuma wondered if she knew and was just asking out of politeness sake. He didn't really care either way. Small talk was the heart and soul of Konoha ninja, really, once you looked past things like honour and protecting the village. "Yeah," he said, "you wouldn't find me up here if they hadn't. Got some temperamental ones on my team- they'd be freaking out."

"And need all the attention of their sensei?" Hamada's lips twisted slightly before she was all smiles again. "You're a good one, I hear."

"Nah," Asuma said, "I'm nothing special."

They talked for a little while longer before she excused herself and Asuma once more found himself up on the roof alone. That was alright, he thought, deciding against lighting another cigarette.

He'd been given something to think about in any case, even if he hadn't gotten nearly as much reconnaissance done as he'd hoped.

Hamada Reiko was a lovely sight to behold and, as far as he could tell, quite close to his age.

… So why didn't he remember her from the Academy? 

* * *

"I really wish she would stop staring at us," Sasame murmured, his voice low enough that she had to strain to hear it. "You'd think we were the ones that kidnapped her precious Uchiha from the looks of it."

Noriko gave the pink-haired girl a long glance. Meeting her eyes. "I think it's just where we're from," she replied, not altering her stare one iota as the other girl's eyes narrowed venomously. "And the assumption that we're all alike and all had a hand in that event."

Which was absolutely ludicrous.

Hiro snorted, ducking his head enough that his expression of utter distaste was hidden from most of the room. There was no point in hiding it from each other after all. Not when here and now all they had was the team. Just each other and Kaori-sensei, which was all well and good, but Kaori-sensei was with the other Jounin sensei and that meant she couldn't help them. Not in this.

"Or that we'd know something," Hiro pointed out, fiddling with a bit of sticky tape he'd gotten from somewhere.

"Or that we know something," Noriko agreed, reaching up with one hand to tuck her hair back behind her ears. She continued on, very dryly, "Because being Genin means we've got full clearance for everything."

Sasame shook his head. "Dosu Kinuta's team knew enough," he opined quietly, brown eyes thoughtful. "She may assume that as we're a smaller village that we all play roles that go further than the larger villages work."

"Maybe."

Noriko wasn't sure if she believed that but they were getting dirty looks from the Genin near them for talking, even as quietly as they were, while the woman introduced herself and her companion who'd been in charge of the first exam and went on to talk about the second exam. She was glad that they'd followed Hiro's hunch about the jutsu. Otherwise they wouldn't have made it out, and getting disqualified wasn't the only thing they had to worry about.

Their sensei and then their village leader, Orochimaru-sama, would have been… most displeased. It would be bad enough if they lost in a fight where they were giving their all.

Worse to fail before ever getting anywhere.

Water under the bridge, she scolded herself, and listened with half her attention on the Jounin. But no more than half, not when she wanted to keep an eye on the pink-haired girl and the simple fact that only an idiot would quit paying attention to their surroundings in this situation.

How could they ever hope to become Chuunin if they missed the basics like _that_? She didn't know about Sasame and Hiro, but Noriko knew that if she messed up _that_ badly then she'd deserve what she got coming to her. Because that would be just _pathetic_.

A note flicked onto her lap and she opened it without ever seeming to look down. There was no need to be obvious about things after all.

_Odds are,_ the note was in Sasame's bold, clear writing, _she'll come after us._

Noriko smirked and arched an eyebrow.

That was news?

More words appeared on the note. _We can't kill her._

Which was, she knew, if they even _could_. They were all Chuunin-hopefuls here. That meant that there was a certain level of… equality amongst all of them. Presumably, she amended, with a slanted gaze towards Suna's heaviest hitting team. They were probably not equal to _that_ team. But the pink-haired girl's team?

The odds were better, she figured, that they'd have an even chance.

Though she did wish she had more information on who her teammates _were_, between the truly awful glasses the other girl had and the guy's weight, Noriko wasn't going to assume they were hard-hitters. Not weak, if they'd made it here, but there was a lot of grey between 'weak' and 'someone to watch out for'.

_If she comes after us, we subdue her. We_ can _kill her teammates._

* * *

"Stop staring," Ino hissed, kicking Sakura's leg under the table. "Pay attention to what's being said."

Sakura gave her a long, very dirty look. Ino met that look with one of her own. This was no time for them to indulge in being _angry_ at another team. They had to focus on what was being said.

Ino had to admit, the first exam hadn't been what she'd expected- which, in a way, made it easier for her to mentally adjust herself for the coming exams. If this really was going to be different then working on past experience meant very little.

Except, she thought, as Chouji touched Sakura's arm and got her attention in a less vehement manner than Ino had done, in the fundamentals.

This was, after all, the Chuunin exam. Fundamentals were what it was all about.

That, Ino mused, and showing them that you had the qualities it took to be a leader. Did she? She thought she did. The exam would prove that to be either confidence or conceit.

She knew which one she hoped it to be.

As Sakura settled down, leaning back and crossing her arms over her chest in a way that made her look not the least bit dangerous, Ino allowed a faint smile to cross her lips.

They were going to _rock_ this. The fact that there was a Genin team from Oto was just a little blip. Ino didn't know if she was trying to convince herself of that, or if she was wishing she could convince Sakura of it.

Their weakest point, she thought, was that they could be goaded into going after that particular team. That would leave them weak and open to predictability. And, as every Genin knew, predictability was a bad thing. If your sensei said you had it, you trained until you got rid of it.

The way that Sakura's eyes never left the Oto Genin didn't fill Ino with confidence that Sakura's sensei had managed to train it out of her.

Peculiarly, meeting the eyes of a Genin from Kumo, reassured her just a little. She recognized the look in the other girl's eyes. She was gauging the competition and considering her skills against their appearance. Like they were a real threat.

Ino had to admit that, after the fiasco of last time and being considered s-o-o-o useless and beneath notice, it was- _thrilling_ to be given attention.

Not, she knew, that attention was a good thing (it was a _very_ bad thing, after all) but part of her revelled in it anyway. They were being judged as equals to the other teams.

That hadn't happened last time.

"Alright peaches," said the woman who the first Jounin had named Maki (and if that was really her name, Ino would eat a kunai). "Just because you got off easy last time means nothing, you got that?"

From the way silence had fallen and how every Genin was now staring at the Jounin woman intently, Ino was pretty sure that they all got it. Maki was their only source of information about the next exam. They _had_ to pay attention to her and do it well. Even if they didn't like being called 'peaches'.

Sakura's elbows were planted on the table as she leaned forward, Chouji looked intent, not calm, and for herself, Ino felt excitement thrilling down her spine. She tapped her fingers against the table and resisted the urge to fidget.

Maki was a short Jounin, with cotton-candy blue hair and they couldn't see her eyes. Not because they were too far away, but because she had them covered with bandages and her hitae-ite. Ino knew better than to think that meant she didn't earn every bit of respect her rank gave her.

If she was a Jounin without use of her eyes, then she was _definitely_ formidable. Maki's voice was light and amused and all the more dangerous for the thinly veiled anticipation in her voice.

"You're all at the beginning point of your next exam," Maki continued, like it didn't really matter. "This is where it is going to be taking place."

Ino wasn't sure if she ought to relax or not. A paper exam? Would this be like the first exam the last time? She exchanged a quick glance with Sakura, who looked smug. But then, Ino admitted, Sakura had the right to look smug here. If it came to a written exam, then Sakura was the most likely of them all to get them through this. She was smart, but Sakura was in a whole different playing field than she was when it came to pure knowledge.

Around the room, Genin were murmuring to their teammates as they considered what Maki had said. She didn't give them much time to talk though before carrying on.

Probably for the best, Ino thought. Less time for people to get too worried.

"Each of you will be given one of these," the woman said, pulling what looked like a mini appetizer plate out of her pocket. "On each plate, you'll find a number. The total number your team equals, well- you'll see."

The first Jounin, the man, clapped his hands. "Each team, send one of your members up to the front now."

Ino exchanged a glance with Sakura and Chouji, and arched an eyebrow in a silent question. Who should go?

Sakura raised her eyebrows, like Ino was being silly, and Chouji gestured for her to go. With a smile that she couldn't quite repress, Ino got up without arguing (why argue when she was getting her way?) and joined the line that was forming.

She wound up next to the orange-haired girl, and a guy who looked like he was bored out of his mind with all of this formality on her other side. He didn't spare her a glance.

"Hello," the girl bubbled, bouncing on her feet. "What numbers do you think we'll get? I hope I get an odd one, I like those better. What about you?" She held out a hand, obviously expecting Ino to shake it.

Ino blinked and held her hands up, carefully away from the hand that the other girl held out. "Hey," she said, "I- I don't think I've ever really thought about whether I like evens or odds better, when it comes to numbers." Because who thought about ridiculous things like that? She liked whatever number would let her win.

The girl didn't seem to mind that her hand had been blatantly refused and Ino was glad enough for that. "You really haven't thought about it?" the girl asked, looking appalled.

Ino, for her part, wasn't sure what to make of the girl. She was starting to think that that was mutual. "Um, no?" Ino tried, if for no other reason than talking to someone meant this was less boring than it could be. "I mean, you can _get_ even, but everyone talks about how good the odds could be."

Which were not, she thought, feeling a bit sheepish for her quick words, what the girl was taking about. Not anywhere near being close to the numbers they'd been discussing. But still, the girl looked like she was considering that seriously.

"I never thought of it that way," the girl mused, "that's _exciting_, ain't it?"

"I guess so," Ino said, biting back a smile.

"I'm Midori," the girl said, with a grin that lit up her freckled face. "I'm from Iwagakure no Sato and I'm going to kick your ass, but until that happens, can we be friends?"

Ino blinked. Then blinked again as they shuffled forward with the line. "That's- pretty direct." Despite herself, Ino had to admit she was sort of impressed on one level. That sort of nerve took either well-grounded arrogance or else stupidity and the girl she was looking at didn't look stupid.

"I can be," Midori admitted, making a bit of a face. "That's not going to be a problem is it? Ryu says it can be sometimes and maybe he's right but it's not like this is top-secret or anything right? And I really like your glasses."

"It's not really," Ino murmured, trying to figure out what liking her glasses had to do with things being top secret and with them being friends on top of everything else. She felt a headache coming on. "Look- I'm not sure, is this smart?" Being friends, even if it was in name only, Ino was pretty sure would prove to be a poor idea. This was an exam, an alternative, civilized way to wage war between the countries.

… It wasn't meant for making friends.

"What's smart?" Midori asked lightly, twirling absently on one foot before coming to a stop and regarding Ino with frank eyes. "Are we friends or not?"

Ino thought for a moment before making up her mind. It was possible that it would prove to be the worst decision ever, but at the same time... they were Chuunin hopefuls. Taking risks was part of the test. _And,_ she thought, _this could be a risk that would prove to be useful in terms of gathering information._

"Sure," she said finally, keeping her voice light. "I'm Ino."

She wasn't, however, going to just hand her last name out to anyone. After all, Midori hadn't given her name either. "I'll talk to you later," she added, stepping into the tent.

Getting her number was almost anti-climactic and she took a bare second to glance at it before hiding it in her shirt. She'd put it in a more secure location after, but to get back to her chair, under her shirt was sufficiently secure, especially when everyone was hiding their own numbers.

Sakura was standing by their chairs as Ino got back. "I'm going next," Sakura said, lifting her chin as Ino sat down. "Chouji doesn't mind."

"I don't mind either," Ino said, glancing around the room. Now that people were allowed to move, there had been some alterations in seating arrangements and Ino bit her lip when she realized that however much she looked, she didn't know enough to know if the shifts she could spot were significant or not.

Sakura slipped away as the Jounin called for the second members of each team to come up and grab a number. Ino was darkly amused at the way that the Oto team was making sure that they stayed far away from Sakura. Their teammate was keeping low and it was a tactic that wouldn't have worked if they hadn't been all at the same vantage point to watch, but down where everyone else was and stuck in line by the Jounin? Ino figured that the Oto Genin was fairly safe for the moment.

Lucky for him. 

* * *

He'd watched, eyebrows arched, as Midori had gone and engaged the blonde leaf kunoichi in conversation. Ryu's lips had twitched at the blonde's reluctance and obvious confusion.

He didn't need to know what Midori was asking. She always asked someone the very same question in the exams.

"I wonder why Mi-chan picked her," Natsu murmured, leaning back in his chair and balancing it precariously on two legs. "She's nothing special from what I can tell."

"Her team did make it past the first exam," Ryu said, his voice measured and calm. "There's little to say if she's special or not at this point." A faint smile twitched at his lips. "Perhaps Midori just likes the glasses."

The horrible pink glasses.

"I can't believe her Jounin-sensei let her enter an international exam with those on her head," Natsu replied with a snort. "Talk about making Konohagakure no Sato look immature."

Ryu wondered. "Maybe that," he said, as Midori approached them, with good humour vibrating from her. "Is the point."

Natsu frowned at him but didn't have time to ask before Midori had made it back to them. Ryu didn't flinch as she flung her arms around him. He'd gotten used to that in the three years they'd been working together.

"Did you get your number?" he asked, as she squeezed his waist and then let him go.

"Uh huh," Midori said, holding up one finger. "Annnd I made a friend!" She did a little spin that set her hair flying out around her.

"I'm going to get my number," Natsu said, reaching over to tug Midori's hair. "Try not to knock over any desks, Mi-chan."

Midori stuck her tongue out at their teammate's back as he left them.

"He does have a point," Ryu allowed, as she turned back to him indignantly. "What if we have to sit for this test and you've broken a desk or five?"

Midori gave that an impatient shrug as she shifted back and forth on her feet. Her eyes were intent and, he was sure, intent on something that he did not see. That had ceased to bother him long ago. She listened when he needed her to and that was enough for Ryu to work with comfortably.

"Then they fail," she said, with a bounce. "And I'll have evened the odds even more! We've already gotten rid of the babies in this exam."

All the ones, he thought, who hadn't been able to figure out the illusions that had been in the walk. "That means though," he cautioned, "that if you eliminated people because of their lack of a desk that you'd be missing some fighting partners. You wouldn't want your new friend to get cut, would you?"

"I wouldn't knock over her desk!" Midori protested, leaning forward. "I wouldn't, I wouldn't, I wouldn't!"

"Don't knock over any desks." His voice had crawled down to something cooler, more commanding. Repetition was never a good sign in Midori.

She sighed and flopped down in Natsu's vacated chair. "I won't," she said, already fidgeting. "Can't we _go_ yet?"

"After I get my number," he told her, smoothing her hair in an absent gesture. "Which will be soon enough."

She sighed. 

* * *

"What a bunch of freaks," Tenten muttered, her voice barely reaching his ears.

Neji shook his head, ignoring the way that other Chuunin-hopefuls followed the movement. He felt like he was walking about in a miniature spotlight and now that he was here, felt rather that Hinata had gotten the better deal, all unknowing. He knew why they were staring and the cursed seal was now his protection.

"If they are freaks," he replied, "then aren't we the same, in their eyes?"

Lee answered, "That's what makes this so interesting!" He beamed at the room.

Neji noted quietly that Lee's good humour seemed to have unsettled as many people as his own glares. Anyone who could afford to be grinning at the exam had to be powerful.

That was a good thing.

"Both of you," Tenten said, with fond exasperation in her voice, none of her aggravation at being seen as the least threatening of their team making it into her words, though it showed in the tightness around her eyes and the stiff set of her shoulders. It was an advantage to be underestimated, but Neji knew better than to point that out to her right now.

"It's annoying. And we're still being watched, you both know that, right?" Her words could fit almost any team in the room and that was the point. Neji resisted the urge to smile at her for the way she'd made it easy to discuss.

"Half the room is watching us," Neji said dismissively, even as his fingers shifted in one of Konoha's oldest codes. _Team on the left. Three rows down._

"We will not let them down!" Lee said easily. "If they wish a challenge, then we will oblige them!" _Nothing on the right._

Neji nodded shallowly. So it was the team he'd spotted, the one from Kumo, one of the ones that had a twin on it. He tracked the other Kumo teams absently, noting that each team had an eye on another team from a different village.

They were under surveillance. He wondered what other orders the Genin had regarding their foreign brethren. What information they would be wanting to gather. And how they would expect to go about it.

Neji tilted his head. "We'll give them all the challenge they can handle and more."

He didn't like being followed. Or watched, like he was an insect under glass. There had been more than enough of that at home, which had only recently begun to improve. _When we get the chance,_ his fingers said, _we lose them_.

Tenten laughed, leaning over as if he'd said something really interesting. Her fingers danced along his forearm in a casual movement. _Not kill?_ she asked. "And how do you suppose we do that?"

His eyes went colder. He wanted to, Neji acknowledged. If only because they made him uncomfortable when he'd just been getting used to feeling like perhaps, he wasn't so very different from those who didn't have a cursed seal on their head. But they couldn't afford to go about killing the Kumo-nin. Not in their home village. Not without good reason.

"You'll see," he promised, removing her hand from his arm, like it was something that bothered him. _We can't. Not in their own territory._

"It will be a show to remember," Lee said, his smile not having changed a bit as they'd discussed what to do about the team. "However it falls out."

"Go get your number," Neji said, with a nudge to Tenten.

She rolled her eyes at him. "Yes, my lord and master," she said teasingly.

But she went.

Neji ignored Lee's laughter and concentrated on that. 

* * *

"You were making a new friend?" Chouji's voice nudged her out of her musings and Ino glanced over to grin at him.

"It probably wasn't very smart of me," she said easily, "but I didn't tell her nothing but my name and she already knew my village." Their hitae-ite made it hard to not know- at least in the exam where they were all wearing the _right_ hitae-ite. "You know I wouldn't give away trade secrets."

To her relief, he smiled faintly, the corners of his eyes still concerned. "Just be careful," he said, "and I'll be fine. What did you learn from her?"

"I think she'd kinda weird," Ino laughed, making a bit of a face. "Got all worked up over numbers and such and, I mean, it's not really a big deal if you get an even or an odd is it?"

"Not to me," Chouji agreed, though he looked thoughtful. "I guess that it depends on what's important to you."

Ino raised her eyebrows. "You don't think she's, like, a number-ninja or something, do you?"

It was harsh, but Ino had gotten the feeling that the girl was, if their teams were set up the same way as Konoha's teams were, that the girl was probably the lowest in her class. Which was _totally_ harsh when it was being judged on the basis of one meeting but- yeah.

"A number-ninja?" Chouji asked, his laugh a welcome balm on her worries. Should she have refused the offer of friendship? Even if it was transient and useless but ultimately harmless? "I think that's a subset of Intel, isn't it?"

Ino shrugged her shoulders. "I don't really know," she admitted, "but I guess that if there were number-ninja that they wouldn't really be specializing on our level. That sounds like the sort of thing that you need other skills to back up in order to get strong enough to be good in your niche."

"Like yours?"

She stuck her tongue out at Chouji and, as Sakura came back, he got up. "My turn."

"Have fun," she said, a bit dryly, even as Sakura took a seat, while frowning. "What's up, forehead? You're going to wrinkle your pride and joy if you keep scowling like that."

"You've got to be kidding me," Sakura muttered, "aren't you getting a little too old for plays on my forehead, Pig-chan?"

"I'm never too old to criticize your forehead," Ino replied loftily. "Especially not when you still call me that. All is fair in love and war. _You_ ought to know that."

Which, Ino figured, was more than true. It wasn't like her and Sakura were new to the idea of everything going on in a competition. What else had they done for years on end over a boy, but wage war? A different sort of war than what the Chuunin Exam was meant to substitute for, but all the same- war by another set of circumstances.

"Anyway," Ino said, hurrying on. "What's got your panties in a twist? You were fine before you went down there."

"I don't want to talk about it," Sakura said flatly, rubbing her nose. "It's nothing important and I'll get over it."

"If it's bugging you right here and now, then it's important," Ino replied, meeting and holding her friend's gaze. "I mean it, Sakura. We can't afford any sort of weakness right now."

Not, Ino thought, when they were already dealing with one weakness of Sakura's already. Ino wasn't sure if she hoped that this would be connected to it or not. Two weaknesses for the price of one, or would they be two entirely separate issues?

Sakura met her gaze for a long moment then looked away. "It's nothing," she said again, her voice a little stronger. "I promise. It won't affect what we're going for."

Every line of Sakura's body was claiming that her friend was telling the truth. Ino had no choice but to accept it. But when Chouji came back, the both of them were quiet and frowning.

"You two okay?" he asked, taking his seat.

"We're fine," Ino replied at the same time that Sakura said 'yeah', and they glanced at each other then grinned. Ino felt relieved at that. Whatever it was, it wasn't between them.

"Alright my fruitcakes," Maki called as the last Genin sat back down. "Let's get this going, shall we? We'll be starting the second exam," Maki said, smirking. "So if any of you are unprepared, that's just too bad." That got some discontented grumbling. Maki's eyes narrowed. "A Chuunin must always be prepared."

"Now, this is a team test. If a teammate dies: you fail. If a teammate is left behind: you fail." Ino had to admire Maki's abrupt way of speaking. It got the point across very well. "Your goal for the exam is to find the match to the total of your cards."  
She held up a cardboard thick card, a zero painted on it. Ino couldn't help the flashback to the last time… "Each team has a combined number," Maki continued, "memorize it. That's your exit-number, your goal to find in the tunnels."

_Tunnels?_ Ino mouthed to Sakura. _What tunnels?_

Ino felt sick as Sakura shrugged. She didn't want to go into tunnels. Already she could feel dirt and darkness pressing down on her, making it hard to breathe…

Ino closed her eyes and swallowed hard. 

* * *

"Oh come on," Sayuri muttered vilely, casting a glance over her shoulder at her target and scowling. "Seriously? She's _scared_ of _tunnels_? What kind of babies are Konoha producing if these are their best and brightest? Why'd I have to get stuck with the dumb blonde one?"

Who the hell wore glasses like that to an _exam?_ Sayuri could think of about a million things more practical to wear if you desperately needed to accessorize during a chance to get promoted.

"Look at it this way," Hideki said easily, keeping a nonchalant watch over his target to her practiced eye. "If she's the dumb blonde one then your job is easy. Isn't that lucky? How hard can it be to watch over someone without a brain in their head? I mean, she's painted herself a target just with those-glasses. Now I, on the other hand, might actually have my work cut out for me-the pink one is supposed to be the Hokage's apprentice. She can't be a pushover and that's got to be more complicated than Miss Blonde and Poorly Dressed."

Sayuri gave him a half-hearted glare. "If the pink one is the Hokage's apprentice then why isn't she the one leading them? You never get anywhere by working with a committee. You need to have a leader."

"I don't think they care," Inori said, looking down and giving a weak shrug at that. "But isn't it simpler if they are always so busy arguing with each other? I mean... you could always mention it if you really felt the need, but..."

"Not that it really matters," Hideki interrupted smoothly. "After all, our orders aren't to fight them, right?"

"You're actually planning on listening to that order?" Sayuri inquired archly. "I thought you were the one that was all eager about getting them when we can and taking them out. Joben-sensei will be disappointed but that's less potential opponents for Kumo, which is still something to be applauded-whether or not our orders explicitly state to take them out."

Well, she was sure of her logic anyway. Tsubaki hadn't been impressed, looking down her nose at her and pointing out that if she was going to not follow orders here and now then what was to teach her to follow them later when it might actually matter a great deal more? There'd been more to the talk; Tsubaki always had opinions on things when Sayuri happened to say something that her sister thought was rather ill-becoming of a ninja-which was a fine thing, she thought sourly, for a ninja who turned their back on the family specialty to say, talking about loyalty. She shook her head.

Thinking like that, about her, when it wasn't about her, was so annoying. Of course Sayuri would follow orders when it was important. It was just that, when they weren't important, she had a really hard time caring about bothering with them.

Some rules, after all, were made to be broken.

"It depends on the exam," Hideki demurred, looking weary of the conversation already. "Or I could go on about how the pink girl is actually rather cute if that would make you feel better?"

From the lift of his eyebrows and the tilt of his head, she guessed that he was kidding. "Oh ugh," Sayuri answered, gagging. "She's actually acting like she's friends with dumb blonde there-how can you think someone with that poor of taste is actually cute? Ewww."

"She might not be dumb," Inori pointed out mildly, eyes following the third member, and only guy of the team they were watching. "She was sent here for a reason, no doubt. I don't think even Konoha would be so arrogant to send someone who wasn't up to a high standard."

"Afraid," Sayuri said, enunciating clearly, "of the _dark_. You do not get much more pathetic than that." At least, as far as her thinking went, you really didn't. The dark was something that babies were scared of.

Not ninja trying out for Chuunin. "I bet," she continued, "I bet that she got tapped for this exam because she's friends with the Hokage's apprentice."

Hideki blinked at that and frowned thoughtfully. "Now that," he said slowly, "might be an idea. Blonde-girl is a clan member though; she's got her own skill set."

"Yeah," Sayuri admitted, "and it's apparently at it's strongest when they're further along in their development-she can't know enough of the family jutsu to be a huge threat that way, no way. It's not like we're Jounin or anything. This is Genin level, even if most of us are good to start out as Chuunin when it comes to strength."

"Chuunin's not about strength," Hideki reminded her and she scowled at him. "It's about being able to think and plan ahead during a situation as well as adapt and lead a team."

"I know, I know," she answered impatiently. "But that doesn't mean we can't take a bit of liberal interpretation of our orders, right? They want to know what the other teams can do? Then we find out. We're not going to learn anywhere near enough just by waltzing around behind them and hoping that they don't notice."

Sayuri was only daring to be as obvious as she was in her gawking as it was because they were all in one huge room and the odds of anyone being caught staring at anyone in specific were pathetically low—everyone was staring at someone.

Or something. She narrowed her eyes at her target. "She can stop staring at Maki-san any time soon," Sayuri said, sighing. "So boring. I was hoping for a bit of a challenge."

Inori nudged her gently. "Come on," he said, "the exam will be enough of a challenge—did you see them? Gaara of the desert is here. You don't want to go up against him do you?"

She laughed. "Not if you're talking about anything like a fair fight, no way. I don't want to deal with him at all in a battle where he knows I'm coming. I'm not stupid-he'd kill me and not even blink. You know the rumours as well as I do."

"I heard an interesting one," Hideki commented idly. "About the pink one and Gaara. Apparently her team has run into him before and survived."

Sayuri's eyebrows shot up as she glanced over at the team. "No way," she said incredulously. "Not unless those three are just way too pathetic to actually be worth killing and so he just decided that he didn't feel like expending the effort."

Maybe that was a bit uncharitable; they could have been good enough at running away to survive and Sayuri mentally amended her thoughts to include the possibility of that. Mmm. If that was the case, then they were probably a recon team and those were always hard to gauge how powerful they were. It was so much easier when the other team indulged you by having straight up fighting powers.

Stealthier ones always had all sorts of inclusions, exclusions, rules and odds of being useful under certain circumstances only. Way easier to just beat the crap out of things in her opinion. Not like Tsubaki and her genjutsu...

Ugh. Why was she thinking about her right now? She'd show her just how useful genjutsu was in a real combat setting later. Right now they had to focus on the mission. _Watch them,_ Joben-sensei had said, _and tell us what you see._

Hands on her hips, Sayuri heaved a sigh. "Alright," she said, "we've got to make sure we get our part of this test done quick so we can track them down. It's going to be harder thanks to the circumstances..." 

* * *

Maki gestured behind her at the blank wall. Ino followed the movement and tried to convince herself that she wasn't going to be ill. "You've all got your cards. Now you've got five minutes to discuss your plans and methodology for reaching your number's match. Then, the lights will go off—and into the tunnels you'll go." Maki glanced at the Genin, and her face hardened.

"You are all shinobi," Maki said, "being a shinobi carries risks. As long as cards add up to the number of the exit you leave by, you pass this exam."

There was a warning there and Ino frowned.

Sakura nudged her arm and leaned in to murmur, "There will be deaths in this one."

"Seriously," Ino said, swallowing. "And we didn't even sign a contract this time."

The words were flip, but her stomach felt anything but. Ino took a deep breath and held it, trying to convince herself that she was calm. Totally. Entirely. Calm. And that there would be nothing the matter with going into tunnels. In the dark.

They had to find a _number_ in the _dark_-and Ino couldn't bring herself to give her opinion as Sakura and Chouji tried to decide in the five minutes they had left how to go about tracking it down. Hearing her doom and gloom opinion was not going to help with team morale.

At least, she thought, looking for a silver lining, it wasn't going to be like the second exam from last time. They didn't have to track the team with the other number and fight them. Unless they lost one of their numbers, or if another team came after them…

Sakura was right.

This was going to be a mess.

"Ino?"

She blinked at them, drawn out of her thoughts, and forced a smile. "I'm fine," Ino said, and from the looks on their faces, she didn't think they believed her. To be entirely honest, she wasn't sure if she believed it either. But she tried to pay more attention to their discussion after that.

At the end of their five minutes, Maki spoke up again. "You have one-hundred twenty minutes once the lights go off to reach an exit. Three minutes to black out."

She could feel sweat beginning to drip down the back of her neck and Ino clenched her hands tight. She _wasn't_ going to freak out about the dark. Or the tunnels. She wasn't going to lose it because they were going to be surrounded by dirt and stone and having to search for things without being able to see.

She _wasn't_. Much.

…Hopefully.

_Please?_ Ino thought, more than a little desperate.

Ino frowned, searching for the tunnels, and then forced herself to look at her team. "Fights are going to break out the moment the lights go out," she said, almost distantly. She could see it in the way that some of the Genin were standing. Already angling for the best approach for an attack.

"Stupid," Sakura muttered, "that's not even the point of this one."

"It doesn't matter," Chouji answered. "Everyone knows that the fewer people who pass this exam means less competition for later on. Are you sure you're fine, Ino? You're looking a little-off."

There were tunnels and she was going to have to crawl through them. Ino remembered the last mission, crawling and not even knowing if there was an exit and so the darkness continued on forever. Hands bleeding, knees bleeding, she'd been so tired that the darkness had all but suffocated her.

"I'm fine," she snapped, keeping her voice low to avoid drawing attention to their team. The last thing they needed was someone picking up on the fact that she seriously didn't want to go anywhere near those tunnels.

Was scared of those tunnels in a nameless dreading way. Chouji looked unconvinced. Sakura raised her eyebrows and looked skeptical.

"Seriously bad time to get a case of the nerves, Ino-pig," she said, and Ino couldn't even muster up the energy to do more than weakly glare at her.

"We don't have time for this," Ino said, because fuck it if her nerves were going to cost them this exam. "There's two minutes 'till light's out." And she was _so_ not looking forward to that. At all.

"How are we supposed to find it?" Sakura asked frowning as she stretched her fingers. It was a movement she'd picked up in the last few months. Ino wondered if it helped during medical jutsu. "I mean, Lee-san's team is lucky, Neji-kun will be able to see, but..."

Chouji was considering the dirt. "I might," he said carefully, "be able to keep us from going in circles at least. Dad's been teaching me a few things to do with earth jutsu." That was something, at least. Ino tried to ignore the relief that that thought gave her.

"Any ideas, Ino?" They were both looking at her, and she wished that they'd _stop_.

She chewed on her lower lip, and thought about what she knew about tunnels and lack of light. "Pay attention to the way the walls feel, and how the floor slopes," she said eventually, "and the light quality. In the dark you can tell a change of light from a long way away. We're looking for number thirteen, right?"

Crawling through tunnels and looking for the sun. She took a breath and let it out. No freaking out, Ino scolded herself. "I think we're just going to have to hope for the best-didn't they say that the numbers are all along the same sort of paths?"

"Yeah-," Sakura said, nodding. "And-"

The lights abruptly went out.

And the ground dropped out from underneath them and Ino wasn't the only one who screamed as they fell and fell and fell… 


	24. Chapter 15: Blind II

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 15 Blind (Part II)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Word Count: 8,262  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 15 of ? Unbeta'd.

* * *

One hundred twenty minutes left.

* * *

Afterwards, Ino would have liked to pretend that she'd been utterly cool and composed about their sudden fall. Not that even she would have believed it, but some lies were necessary to maintain dignity.

The truth of the matter was that the only thought she had as they fell through complete darkness, with an incoherent shriek on her lips, was that they were all going to die.

It didn't even matter that they were going to die the ridiculous death of being smashed flat as a pancake-she didn't care about that. It was like every nightmare she'd had since that mission come to life, all at once, and despite the fact that there was a part of her that weakly pointed out that this was an exam and thus there had to be a way to survive, she couldn't focus on anything but her terror.

She couldn't even try. The dark had overpowered her effortlessly. Her confident, determined words to Neji about beating her nightmares were revealed as nothing but bravado as her illusions about her ability to just suck it up and deal were stripped away with brusque efficiency.

Pain interrupted her. A sudden, startling pain around her waist, her stomach, as she was abruptly pulled _sideways _instead of down. Blood, sharp and startling, filled her mouth-she'd bit down on her tongue by accident-and she coughed, trying to get enough air to scream again.

"Ino!" Chouji's voice, close to her ear, was low and rough. "_Breathe_. You're not falling. It's okay. You're not alone in the dark. We're here too."

"Geez, Pig," Sakura's voice rang out of the darkness, a few feet away. "Weren't you the one going on about how tough we were?"

Ino shook, her whole body trembling, as she struggled to put together the fact that she wasn't alone with the terrible insistence that she _was _and the way the dark had stolen her sense and her reason. She didn't really believe them. Didn't actually think that Sakura was there or that Chouji had his arm around her waist.

She could still hear other people screaming. Their echoes made the aching fear in her, the unreasonable fear, shudder and want to follow their lead.

But she didn't. She just shook and wiped at her eyes with shaking hands.

Chouji shifted his weight, shifted her, until she could feel the wall on one side of her and Chouji's solid weight on the other. "We're right here," he said, his voice giving away no hint of strain at supporting them both on the wall of their tunnel. "Ino, please calm down."

There was the sound of feet shifting on rock, the scattered noise of gravel falling, and then, though she couldn't see her, Ino was almost sure that Sakura was right by them. "Come on, Pig," Sakura said. "You're making us look bad."

Under the flippant words was worry. Concern. For her.

Ino rubbed at her eyes, her throat aching, as she struggled to stem the flow of tears. "I-," she croaked, feeling sodden and miserable and humiliated.

"Don't worry about it," Chouji said, his voice gentle. "I'm going to start heading down, okay?"

Ino swallowed hard. "I should move then." She just... didn't want to, not when she was two steps away from shrieking her head off again. It was only the fact that Chouji was right-they did need to get down-that kept her from freaking out over the very idea.

"You _are _a kunoichi," Sakura observed dryly. "Sticking to a wall shouldn't be so hard."

"Shut up, Forehead," Ino muttered, doing just that. "I'm _so_ sorry for going to pieces after being dropped down a hole, you have no idea." Firmly stuck to the wall, Ino pulled herself away from Chouji.

"Enough bickering," Chouji said and Ino felt a bit ashamed. He didn't deserve to have to get stuck in the middle of things like that. "Come on, we're sitting ducks here."

"You think we're going to get attacked?" Sakura asked as they started down.

Ino didn't bother to try and talk. She just focused on clinging to the wall and pushing away the darkness. It surrounded her, them, and there was literally nothing she could see. Breathing deeply to stave off panic, she told herself over and over again that they wouldn't just drop people down a hole and leave them there for a Chuunin Exam.

_This isn't like the mission,_ she told herself. _There's ways out for sure, not just as a maybe._

But it was hard to believe that in the face of all the crushing darkness and rock. The rock under her hands was smooth and cut. _See?_ she thought. _That just means they made this. There's got to be ways through here._

It didn't really help as they climbed down and down and down with no idea how deep they were going. Ino tried hard not to think about how, with every step, just how much further they were sending themselves.

What _did _help was that the moment her foot touched ground beneath her, rather than having to stick to it, Chouji hugged her tightly.

"What was that for?" she asked, once he let her go. She knew, but it was embarrassing to admit that she did.

Chouji laughed very softly. "You already know."

"Okay," Sakura said, "I'm glad she's not screaming too-"

"Nice sympathy," Ino muttered.

"-but, seriously, if Chouji's right, then we've got to figure out a game plan as soon as we can or we're going to be murdered for our numbers."

Ino grimaced. Despite her irritation with Sakura, she has to admit that she can see why the other girl would be worried. "We need to find a door with our combined number and get there with them."

"Right," Chouji said, "and if we lose our numbers, we can rush to obtain more and find a different door to use."

"All in the dark," Ino said, clenching her hands to stop them from shaking. "I'm going to go mad."

"Can't," Sakura said. "You already are."

"Oh, very funny," Ino flared.

Chouji sighed. "Are you two trying to get us murdered?"

"It's not murder if we're all aware of the possibility," Ino said. It was bratty and she knew it and part of her despised herself for it but it was better than being nothing but scared. "We'd be killed, not murdered. There's a difference. How are we going to get out of this?"

"We've got maybe fifteen minutes before people really start attacking," Sakura said quietly. "People are going to be orienting themselves-I don't know how they managed it when we were all on the same floor, but we're not in the same area underground, I can barely feel the other teams now-and even the head-hunters are going attempt to locate their exit before going after weaker teams."

"Neji's team," Ino said, "and Gaara's. They'll have an advantage here that we know of. Neji will be able to see and Gaara will be able to feel, right? With all his sand."

"Likely," Chouji agreed. "Though we don't know that for sure. And we should be more worried about the teams from other villages-we don't know anything about their abilities. We could be at a serious disadvantage."

"You've been learning some earth jutsu," Sakura said, "right, Chouji? That gives us a heads up. I haven't studied anything to do with being stuck way underground. And Ino's been stuck underground before-that's experience that can help us."

Ino crossed her arms over her chest and bit down on the urge to demand how Sakura expected heart-stopping fear and irrational panic to be of any use to anyone. Chouji answered Sakura, instead, after a second and Ino nibbled on her lip as she thought about their situation.

At least, she thought, they hadn't gotten the combined number of four.

Four was an unlucky number.

She gently herded her thoughts away from unlucky things and pondered the situation they'd found themselves in. Every Chuunin Exam had to test something that the examiners thought Chuunin needed. The first exam had been a test of observation and ability to escape from an illusion.

What did this test?

"Our ability to adapt," Ino said, her voice soft. Sakura and Chouji fell silent. "We'll fail if we just rely on one of us. It's got to be a team effort."

"But how?" Sakura said and Ino didn't have to see her to know her friend was frowning. "I'm basically useless in the dark. So are you."

"Only if you believe you are." Ino couldn't blame Sakura for that comment for all that it irritated her. "We've got a number of jutsu between us but more importantly, we've got our brains and those aren't useless, Forehead, you ought to know that."

"I am using them," Sakura snapped, "and they're saying that we're going to be stuck if we don't rely on Chouji's jutsu."

Chouji, Ino noted, was keeping his thoughts to himself. She didn't know what to make of that but spared a moment to be glad that she didn't have to argue the two of them.

Even though arguing with Sakura was what was keeping the panic at bay.

"Think," Ino insisted, "you're starting from the point of 'this is impossible', what happens if you flip it around and think 'this is possible, but how' and work from there?"

Sakura fell silent and Ino tried not to fidget or do anything that would broadcast her unease with the quiet at all. She didn't really want Sakura to get pissed at her, but she had to admit that it was nice to have Sakura thinking about their odds and not about the team from Oto.

That was very definitely nice. Ino rubbed her hands together, feeling comforted by the bandages wrapped around them. That was another thing, she told herself, this time, she was dressed better for doing this sort of escapade.

"If this is possible," Sakura said, "then thinking about it from an examiner's perspective, we're at someone else's goal."

Ino's carefully built optimism shrivelled up and died. "We're going to have to fight in the dark, aren't we?"

"What a mess," Chouji said. Ino felt that he'd understated the case severely. "There's got to be some way to figure out a pattern for where the numbers are placed. Otherwise this is just ridiculous."

"So, if that's the case," Ino said quickly, because she didn't want to think too hard about how much this could be ridiculous, "that means we've got to find the number in here first and then track down ones on either side of our current location to see if they go up or down."

"How are we going to see?" Sakura asked. "I mean, we can feel for it, but that'll take forever."

Ino reached up and touched her glasses, then swallowed. "I can make a light," she said, "but it's dangerous. It's going to ruin our night vision and if you look me in the eye, you're going to get sick."

"We'll try by touch first," Chouji rumbled, "and I'll see what I can do earth-wise. There's no point trying the way that leaves us most at a disadvantage first."

"Definitely not," an unfamiliar, arrogant voice said. "Since you're already at a disadvantage."

One hundred ten minutes left.

* * *

"Get the fuck off me," Renjiro grated as he shoved against Minoru and Nobuko's weight. "You guys are heavy."

"Oh excuse us," Nobuko said, her voice darkly sarcastic as she shifted. "Because it's totally our fault that you're the one that misjudged the distance and knocked us off balance isn't it, o lord and master?"

Renjiro grit his teeth, counted to five, and then shoved upwards. Nobuko hmphed as she slid off him, Minoru snickered.

"You have to admit," Minoru said. "That was entirely _your _fault."

"Piss off, Minoru. Neither of you are taking this seriously," Renjiro snarled as he got to his feet. The sounds around them told him that his teammates were doing the same thing. "This is an exam."

"So?" Nobuko sounded careless. "This stage isn't such a big deal. I already told you about what's going on with it. Why are you fussing now?"

"Don't tell us you're getting cold feet," Minoru said. "It's a bit late for that, don't you think?"

Renjiro grunted. He didn't think it was so much _second_ thoughts as fourth and fifth and, despite that, he knew what they were saying. It was, had to be, far too late for them to turn back.

_Not so,_ his voice of reason pointed out coolly. _A Genin of Konoha is not responsible for their actions when those actions are done under the orders of their Jounin sensei._

He told the voice to drop dead so he could deal with his teammates.

Nobuko hadn't needed much convincing. Her father had been killed during the Kyuubi attack years ago and then her mother had died due to pneumonia because they hadn't been able to scrape up the money to pay the hospital bills long enough to get her all the way healthy.

He couldn't really blame her for blaming the village, Renjiro reflected, even though he wasn't sure what the village was supposed to have done-worked out some sort of payment plan, perhaps? But how much income could a sick woman and a daughter in the Academy bring in?

Shrugging those questions off-he had no answers to them and never did-Renjiro thought about Minoru. He was far harder to figure out. Minoru had, as far as Renjiro was concerned, lived a blessed life where food and clothes and everything a child could want were provided to him on a silver platter.

_Maybe that's it,_ Renjiro thought. _He's so used to having it good, what this means isn't something that makes sense to him._

As for himself... he was along for the ride.

It beat living in the slums. The only reason he'd even got to attend the Academy was because Reiko-sensei had found him one day and asked him if he wanted to have a purpose in life.

More importantly, though, she'd offered him food and a place to stay that was more secure than a corner in an alley.

He could understand Nobuko's motivations far more than Minoru's. Which made Minoru the more dangerous of the two of them when it came to all the thoughts he kept thinking and couldn't stop thinking lately.

Renjiro flexed his hands as he thought about all of that. "Don't be stupid," he said, "what do you take me for? I'm just taking this exam seriously-if I get trashed out, I've got nothing. You think I want to disappoint Reiko-sensei after everything she's done for me?"

The best part was, that was all true.

"We don't think that," Nobuko said, right on cue. "It's just, seriously, you shouldn't be worrying about this one. Kumo won't screw us over this early in the game."

"They shouldn't screw us over at all," Minoru said sharply.

Renjiro snorted and stuffed his hands into his pockets. _Oh come on,_ he thought, _you can't seriously believe that, can you?_

"Grow up," Nobuko snapped and Renjiro found himself pleased to have diverted the both of them from anything that might touch on where his loyalties stood. "Kumo likes breaking treaties and promises. They're going to break this one. It's only a matter of when and to keep that when from coming we've got to make sure we're good little Leaf Genin and let Reiko-sensei be the one they're keeping an eye on. She's the one that's been dealing with them after all. If there's a double cross coming on their end, they'll let something slip in front of her."

Renjiro tuned them out as Minoru drew breath to retort about the likelihood of them being stupid enough to give away the double cross to the enemy. He scuffed on sandaled foot against the ground and thought that they both had points that were worth agreeing with. He envied them their easy and steady belief that they were doing precisely what they wanted to do.

_But traitor is an ugly word_, he thought, _not for the first time. _

Reiko-sensei had done everything for him. Given him a home, a life, a career.

And now a job.

He'd have to see it through, he knew that, even though the idea made him recoil. Betraying Konoha meant betraying his home.

_Which is what neither Minoru or Nobuko seem to understand. Reiko-sensei considers it a suitable risk._

He... didn't know what to make of it. Just ignore it, he thought, and trust that things will work out okay. Renjiro knew he wouldn't follow his own advice and that fact was what he blamed his growing headache on. _That,_ he thought wryly, _and the bickering of his teammates._

"Guys," he said, only for Nobuko to huffily point out that she was a girl, "girls then," which had Minoru calling him a filthy name but Renjiro ignored that, "I know we've got this one easy, but seriously-we should get going. We need to locate the door."

"It should be in this area," Nobuko said, a little sheepishly. "And we're going to have to waste a bit of time anyway. We don't want to give away the game that we got placed in the same tunnel as our combined number reads out."

Renjiro nodded. "Once we locate it, we'll figure out how long to wait. It would be better if we were scuffed up a bit." He didn't like this, the fact that they were going to get through the exam not on their own merits-even if there were watchers down here (and there almost had to be) then they'd be Kumo agents who were briefed about them. His skin felt itchy at this bit of cheating.

_We aren't going to find out how well we match up,_ he thought, _and that bothers me. What if we don't deserve this? The rest of the Genin are living and dying for this exam._

He shook his head. The dark had to be making him maudlin.

"We're going to beat on each other, aren't we?" Minoru sighed. "Oh goody, bruises."

"They're good for you," Nobuko said, "otherwise your head would get so fat you wouldn't be able to lift it."

"The door," Renjiro broke in, "and then you two can fight this out. Literally."

One hundred ten minutes left.

* * *

Sana twisted in midair and reached with her legs for the side of the tunnel they were hurtling down. "Haruki, Kozue," she said, as calmly as someone ordering a drink at a restaurant might sound. "To the wall and down. Control the momentum."

To match her words to action (a good leader is one who leads by example, her father would say), Sana shot chakra through her feet and when they hit the wall, she kept running. It was dangerous to move too quickly but stopping too suddenly would only jar them and lead to potential injuries.

_Instead_, she thought, _we control our descent._

That they were headed straight into the unknown depths of a tunnel was a fact calmly accepted and then slotted away for further consideration. The first step was to get _down_. With each step she slowed her body down a tiny bit, reducing her speed in by increments. Enough that her descent was steadied and then slowed and then... she stopped.

Kozue stopped a foot to her left and a little below her. Haruki was a little above her and on the right.

"Our first deliberation," Sana said her voice low so as to minimize how far it would carry. "Do we plan here or on the ground?"

"Here," Kozue said, after a moment. "It'd be stupid to plan where we can be snuck up on. We only recognize the chakra signatures of our own people-anyone else could cloak theirs and we might not notice before it's too late."

"And we don't know where our doors are located," Haruki offered. "Who is to say they're on the very bottom of the tunnels? It would be more challenging by far to place them in all sorts of places."

Sana toyed with a bit of her not-really-hair and thought about that carefully, taking the time to consider every angle as thoroughly as she could with the information that they had at their disposal.

Which, she thought, wasn't all that much. No matter, they would make do. That was the whole point of seeing if they were ready to advance to the next rank. _Could _they make due? Sana rather thought that they could and she knew that Kozue and Haruki felt the same or else they'd never have entered the exam together.

_We were picked because in Kusa, we are one of the best Genin teams,_ Sana thought. _We'd best put on a good show, however much that's a nuisance._

"Kozue," she said, "have you located a number at this level and above?"

"Looking now," he said, his voice slow and sleepy. "It's harder in stone than in earth."

She nodded, though he couldn't see it of course, and returned to her contemplations. Sana toyed with the hem of her vest (not a Chuunin vest, of course, but a mesh one) and thought about their number.

Seven. They had to find exit number seven.

"How many teams were in that room?" she asked abruptly. "I counted over a hundred."

Kozue didn't answer her. Haruki sucked in his breath. "I thought a hundred twelve?" he said. "But I wouldn't say that many for sure."

"No," she said, "I wouldn't either. Too much of a chance for errors if we set things in stone so quickly. Do you think each of us has a different exit?"

"I..." Haruki fell silent for a moment. Sana could almost feel his mind tick-tick-ticking away at her question. She knew what conclusion she'd come to but she wanted to see if he'd back her on it by coming to his own opinion about this mess that they'd found themselves in. "No," he said finally, "that would be too easy. They want us to fight."

"And they don't care if we die," she said, "which we knew, but this is a little blatant."

Haruki's voice is wry. "Why shouldn't they be?" he said. "After all, it's their show and we all came here knowing there's a chance that we won't make it to the next level."

"Found it," Kozue said, sounding breathless. "It's right near the top, those bastards." Despite his words, he sounded admiring.

Sana couldn't really blame him. That _was _clever. "What number?" she asked quickly.

"Fifteen," he said. "Which means we're a ways off from our number."

"What do we want to do?" Sana asked. "We've got the advantage of this number. Even if another team comes in here, they're going to have to struggle to find it and that would give us time to take them out. Should we try that and hope we get a team whose numbers would enable us to make fifteen out of three cards? Or should we go hunting for our humble seven?"

"Hunting," Kozue said, after a moment. "It's too dangerous to stay in one spot for long and we don't know the abilities of most of the other Genin. Let's try and get past them before they can formulate their own responses."

"That's no fun," Haruki commented. "I like the staying here idea-we can fortify this area against some attacks and then destroy other teams from a position of strength."

Sana crossed her arms over her chest and thought about that, thought about both of their points. "We hunt," she said, a few moments later. "Not because stealth is better than out-right attack, but because we have no guarantee that we'd get a team with the right numbers in here and that's something we need. We've only got a hundred-something minutes left on the time limit. We just don't have the time to sit here."

It was too bad, she thought, it would have been interesting if they'd had days to spend down here. In that case, Sana rather figured that the smart thing would've been to hunker down and fortify their area and let the impatient teams duke it out before the made their move.

But they had a clock ticking down on them and couldn't do that so she shelved the small regrets with a sigh and looked at where Kozue and Haruki were. She couldn't see them, but she could feel them, familiar against her chakra, the way they could feel here. "Kozue," she said, "can you find out what the next nearest numbers are?"

"On it," he said.

"Man," murmured Haruki, "nothing for me to do yet. Tch."

"Don't complain," Sana said, twisting around so that her not-really-hair streamed towards the ground while her face looked up at where they'd come from. In the dark it was all the same to her. "We'll get our chance to fight. This exam is a bloodbath."

"Oh goody," Haruki replied. "Fun for all of us good boys and girls."

Sana swallowed the urge to laugh. She always felt more motivated once they were in action. The first exam had been an exercise in doing only what was necessary.

But this one... this one had the potential to be a lot of fun.

"Tunnel to the left is number fourteen," Kozue said dreamily. "And tunnel to the right is number sixteen. I can't reach any further without over-extending myself and risking detection."

Sana heard him rummaging for something. "Pill or drink?" she asked sharply.

"Drink," he said, "I'm not stupid, Sana. I know to save myself in case I need to do some quick and dirty searching later."

"We don't know how many exams will occur after this one today," she said quietly. "Unless it is necessary, proceed with minimal chakra usage."

They both agreed.

Sana smiled faintly. Really, for all that they were boys, she didn't always mind her team. _Of course,_ she thought, _I have them well trained by now. _

"Let's make for the ground level and for tunnel fourteen," she said, "it's a risk that the numbers won't go in order but we've got to try it out. We'll reach the tunnel after fourteen and then we'll stop, check our area, and see what tunnels are around-"

She fell silent.

Down below, as distant as a dream, she could hear the sounds of fighting. In _their_ tunnel.

"We sneak by," Sana said, her voice barely audible. "Both teams are distracted. While they're fighting, we'll go. On my count."

"Three."

Her hands flew through a simple jutsu that all Kusa nin knew. It would hide them from people who weren't looking for them. It wouldn't hold up under close scrutiny but a quick glance? While everything was dark? Sana hoped it would suffice.

"Two."

She ordered her hair to fall into order and pulled out two kunai. Just to be prepared if it came to a fight. The soft sounds of Kozue and Haruki making their own preparations reached her ears.

"One."

They were off, running silently down the dark, dark wall, closing in on the sounds of fighting below.

A hundred and five minutes left.

* * *

Temari stepped over the body, knowing where it was through the fast fading chakra signature, and grimaced at the feel of blood on her sandal. She'd had worse, but it was more disgusting somehow when she couldn't see it.

She knelt by the wall and touched it, her fingers trailing up the stone (too smooth to have been anything but cut by a jutsu) and paused when her fingers sought what they'd been looking for.

But it wasn't their number. "Thirty," Temari reported briskly, standing up and memorizing the way the door seemed to work. They would have to insert their cards into a slot. She had no doubt that then they'd be validated or rejected and only then would the door open, if they were the right people.

She wondered if those who were rejected would get their cards back.

"Damn," Kankurou said, landing beside her as lightly as a cat. If he was bothered by the blood spread all over the floor then he didn't say anything about it. "Just our luck."

Temari wasn't saying anything about her distaste either though so it was really anyone's guess as to what was being thought.

"It's not so bad," Temari said. "We've just got to backtrack a few numbers."

They had twenty-six.

"Temari, Kankurou," Gaara said, "quit wasting time."

She wasn't able to see her brothers, but that didn't stop her from knowing that Kankurou was rolling his eyes. Temari didn't quite dare-she felt less these days like she was walking a tightrope, but that didn't change her prudence-and smacked Kankurou on the shoulder as she stepped back over the body, making her way towards Gaara's chakra signature.

That, she knew, was why they'd gotten attacked so quickly. It amused her the temerity of the other team who'd sensed them and tried to take them on. _Really,_ she thought, _if I felt someone's unshielded chakra signature in here, I would stop and think about why they don't feel the need to hide._

Her chakra was damped down and so was Kankurou's. Gaara's wasn't and she knew that he had no intentions of doing so. This exam was just a formality for him.

Just a stepping stone.

The council in Suna would have let him skip it and just promoted him. Temari was glad that he'd decided to take it on one more time. For one, she thought, it gave them time away from sorting out Suna.

For another, it gave her and Kankurou a chance to advance their own rank with the team they were originally placed in. No need to figure out how to incorporate another Genin into their teamwork when they already knew what to do.

Of course, it wasn't settled that they'd advance.

_That's up to us,_ Temari thought. _I think we're up for the challenge._

"Gaara," she said, "if we follow the pattern, we should be heading right."

His chakra swirled and shifted, like the winds that wreaked havoc with the sand of their home. "Alright," he said, "we'll do that. Let's get this over with."

_Yes,_ Temari thought, almost contentedly as she followed Gaara through the tunnel, Kankurou covering their backs, _things have definitely improved from the last exam._

_This time,_ she thought, _we can focus on just the exam._

Though she did wish they weren't underground. It was almost impossible to use her fan down here.

A hundred minutes left.

* * *

Ino froze. Beside her, Sakura and Chouji did the same.

The voice continued on. "Really," it asked, "what were you thinking?"

Ino swallowed her heart-pounding urge to remain quiet and threw her head back, like she was as confident as the voice was-Ino had no way of knowing if they could see her, so she knew that for this to be successful, she had to look it in every way possible-and considered where the voice was.

Was it a jutsu to throw their voice? Was it just a skill they'd worked on developing? Ino didn't know and so she had to take a calculated risk. "Oh seriously," she said, matching the voice condescending drawl for condescending drawl, "I think that's funny. Maybe you ain't stopped to think about why a team would be standing around like we are."

Chouji shifted behind her and Sakura moved a little to her side. Ino barely heard the murmured 'keep it up' from her but it bolstered her nerve anyway.

This was so much easier, Ino thought, than having to struggle through the tunnels and the darkness with only herself as her worst enemy. In here, they really _did _have enemies.

_I can do this,_ Ino assured herself. _I won't be a burden on them. We'll nail this exam._

"You're lying," the voice, a boy's said.

Ino smiled poisonously. "Am I really?"

_Yes._But they didn't know that and telling a successful lie was part of this game. They had to out-bluff the other team. It was made more exciting by the fact that they had no idea what the other team could do, but...

The voice spluttered and Ino had the impression that this confrontation wasn't going how they wanted it. _They must have noticed how uneasy I was before,_ Ino thought, steadfastly pretending all of her unease really was before and not currently influencing her. _And that gives me the advantage in this._

Ino twirled a kunai in one hand and then, before she could second guess herself, threw it where she was sure the voice was standing.

Ino held her breath as she let go of the kunai.

It hit something with a meaty _thunk_ and the voice cried out in pain. The cry was echoed by two other voices.

Ino smiled grimly, ignoring the way her stomach flip-flopped, and pulled another kunai. "Poor you," she said, making her voice light and airy, "I do believe that I'm ahead now. What were you saying about you having us at a disadvantage? I think perhaps that you've miscalculated."

"We've got them," Sakura murmured in her ear. "We'll take out the other two. Keep playing."

The nod she gave was the only acknowledgement she permitted herself to show. Ino knew that this was a tightrope game where giving everything away would put them right back at the disadvantage they'd managed to bluff themselves out from.

Sakura will know what I mean, Ino knew. That was comforting. In some ways, it wasn't so bad to have to take an exam with her best friend on her team.

Ino tapped her kunai against her cheek, in a move that would have had Asuma-sensei scowling at her (which was a fine thing, really, when she could think of at least one Konoha shinobi who wandered around with deadly weapons in his mouth) and then, as the cursing from the voice subsided, she spoke again. "My," Ino said conversationally, "you're not much of a high pain tolerance sort, are you? We'd be embarrassed, back home, to have Academy students be that upset over a little bitty stab wound."

She knew it was bad of her, but she was enjoying this.

"Shut up," the voice said furiously. "You think you're so great? How about I disabuse you of that notion?"

There was the vaguest sense of motion and it was instinct more than anything else that had Ino braced and countering with a kunai as he abruptly closed in on her. Their kunai met in a shower of sparks and Ino grit her teeth as he strained to bring it down on her.

He was stronger than her.

Ino turned that over in her head as her arms strained and, as Chouji murmured a jutsu and Sakura flung herself up the wall and over, making straight for a teammate of her opponent, Ino found herself smiling grimly.

He was stronger than her. That wasn't all that unusual. That meant she had several options. They flew through her mind quickly and then, before he could realize what she was doing, she ducked, dropping her attempt to keep his kunai from descending, and kicked viciously at his knees.

There was an ominous crack and he cried out as she rolled away. As if from a far off distance, she could hear a yelp from where Sakura had gone and, if her chakra senses didn't lie about where Chouji was, he was dealing with his enemy.

That meant she had to finish this one off.

"You're just a bully-boy," Ino said disdainfully as he got back to his feet judging from the sounds. "Bet you were a bully at your Academy too."

He didn't answer her.

Ino's smile was as sharp as shark's teeth. "I _hate _bullies," she said and, with a speed that she had only because her father had trained it into her, she flung herself at him, kunai ready.

He didn't get a block up in time.

The kunai sank into his flesh easily and to make sure that he stayed down, Ino wrenched it back and forth, knowing that she was causing a great deal of damage with the motion.

But that's war, she realized, and that's what this was. A substitute for war.

Konoha was _not_ going to lose because of her.

He died without making another sound. Ino breathed deeply and left her kunai where it was. She couldn't see well enough to clean it here and she had others. If she could find it, she'd pick up the first one she'd flung at him, but that was about it.

Ino listened.

The only sounds she could hear where Chouji had been was Chouji's breathing, as familiar to her as her own. From Sakura's corner, she heard the muffled sound of an exclamation of pain in an unfamiliar voice and then... nothing.

Sakura came over to them a few seconds after. "Got his number," she said. "What about you two?"

Ino knelt down beside the body and cringed as she made herself search it for the number. After a moment's thought, she pocketed his weapons as well. Who knew what else she'd need in here, after all.

"Got it," Ino said, her voice echoed by Chouji.

"I think," Sakura said to her, "that you ought to do your eye thing only long enough for us to see what numbers we've got now. Don't forget, we can leave through any door that's a combination of three of our numbers. We've got six now."

Ino grinned slightly. "We've just widened our doors significantly."

And all because someone else had underestimated them. Ino wasn't sure if she was grateful or annoyed.

Both, she decided, and determined to get through this.

Her hands flew through the seals. "Hypnosis no Jutsu," she murmured and pale pink light flared to life around her eyes, throwing up ghostly shadows over the walls of the tunnel and the body at their feet.

Sakura held the numbers up, careful to avoid looking at Ino's eyes, and all three of them studied the additions.

_We got lucky,_ Ino thought. _It's up to us to keep that luck._

Ninety minutes left.

* * *

_Careful_, Tsubaki thought, sweat beading down her face as she focused her chakra and her determination on the tiny butterfly that she'd managed to produce. _Move carefully._

Masanori was a still and silent shadow beside her. They were crouched up in one of the tunnels, several hundred feet from the bottom, and, they hoped, out of range of the team they were ambushing.

Tsubaki didn't pretend to know why the other team had come, limping, into their grasp. They'd clearly escaped from some other fight and just as clearly still had their numbers for they'd confirmed that themselves right away.

She studied her tiny butterfly. It was a construct of her chakra which meant she could see it, even in the dark. It was so black that the light around it was a deep, bruised purple. Tsubaki let her breath out. "Masanori," she said, "can you see it? Right in front of me."

It had to be invisible for this plan to work.

Masanori shifted, the sounds muted and muffled, and peered over her shoulder. "Nothing," he breathed, "absolutely nothing. If I concentrate, I can sense your chakra but I know it. May I touch it?"

Without answering him verbally, she directed her butterfly over towards him. It landed on his bare hand and he flinched. Quickly Tsubaki lifted the butterfly away from him.

"That's well done," he murmured, "it doesn't hurt exactly but it's like getting a static shock. Could you make one that hurt?"

"Yes," Tsubaki said, "but I think Taka would get pissed if I gave him the go ahead with true pain."

"True," he admitted, "it'll do what you want it to?"

"Of course," she said, and let the butterfly go. It tumbled/flew down the tunnel towards were Taka lay in wait. Tsubaki closed her eyes, tracking it with the thin line of chakra that kept her connected to the butterfly. It was the thin line that gave her construct life. Without it, the chakra that sustained it would be burned off too quickly for the butterfly to get anywhere.

As such, she felt it when the butterfly landed on Taka's shoulder. She heard it (though _sensed _it was more accurate) when he smiled slightly and murmured. "Got it, Tsubaki-hime. On your mark." He closed his eyes and through her butterfly she could feel the brush of his eyelashes against his cheek.

She promised herself that she'd kick him later for calling her that and then her butterfly took wing again, this time flying further down, until it was brushing the ground with every beat of it's wings. It slipped around the foot of one Genin, darted around the knees of another, and inspected the sandals of the third, before taking a position that was right in the middle of all three of them.

Tsubaki had her eyes shut, same as Taka. Masanori, as aware of the plan as the both of them, did as well.

The Genin did not. By now their eyes would have adjusted to the darkness as much as was possible.

_Explode_, she willed her butterfly. _Now._

It was just a construct of her chakra. It had to do what she wanted. Tsubaki felt the pop of it willing itself out of existence and braced herself.

One Kumogakure no Sato, two Kumogakure no Sato, three Kumogakure no Sato...

Light, harsh and bright as midday in the middle of summer, filled the tunnel like a separate sun. The Genin cried out in pain and shock, effectively blind. Even through her closed eyelids, the light turned her vision red. Tsubaki spared a second to mentally applaud herself-she hadn't been sure how _much_ light it would give off-and then her attention was caught by the feel of Taka moving.

He could take all three of them while they were disoriented, she thought contentedly. It was difficult even for Jounin to fight blind unless they'd made a specialty of just that.

_And Taka's abilities make him perfect for a multi-person take down_.

"Let's go down," Masanori said, standing a few moments later. "He's just tying them up now."

"Tying them up?" Tsubaki murmured. "We should be slitting their throats."

"He wants to get the numbers first," Masanori said. "Unless you want to carry around bloody numbers that will attract everything to us that can sense blood?"

She made a face. "Never mind," Tsubaki said. "We'll do it after. Let's see what we've got. They might have had the number to this tunnel. Then we can decide if we want to go looking for our true objective."

Eighty five minutes left.

* * *

_I am not going to scream,_Ino thought furiously. So far clinging to her rage was the best way she'd found to keep from freaking out at every sound and bump that she could hear or sense in the dark. She was managing to keep from shrieking again or from lapsing into full panic but as they skirted around battles and tried to track down their door it got harder and harder for her to maintain her calm.

Her breathing, which had started off fairly steady (once Chouji had knocked her out of her screaming fit as they'd fallen) was slowly getting more and more ragged and she knew that Chouji and Sakura couldn't help but to notice.

They hadn't said anything but she knew that it was only a matter of time. She couldn't even build the proper indignation at that-if she'd been in their place, she would have said something long before this.

Ino squeezed her hands into tight fists and followed the soft burn of Chouji's chakra through the dark of the tunnels and quietly hated herself.

She hated being weak, being a burden, feeling like this and knowing it was utterly irrational and stupid and that there was nothing she could do about it. She'd thought, going into the exam that the biggest issue would be keeping track of Sakura.

Instead, it had turned out to be her who'd needed someone to keep track of her.

Was that an improvement or not? she wondered peevishly, swallowing the urge to gasp at the sound of a pebble (a rock? a boulder? probably a pebble…) hitting the ground below them.

On one hand, they weren't having to chase after Sakura to attempt to talk her into sense about the team from Oto. On the other hand, Ino thought, she was pretty sure that if someone had asked her about which scenario she'd pick beforehand, Ino would've picked the one where she was in full control of her emotions.

It would have been so much easier to talk sense into Sakura than it was proving to be to convince herself that there was no chance that the walls were going to crush them and that every noise wasn't an enemy nin coming for her.

_Especially,_she thought dryly, _when the enemy nin might very well be coming for them. Wasn't that the whole point of the exam, after all?_

Chouji's chakra froze and Ino came to a stop a second after, just a breath away from him. She was so close that she could smell him and while that might have made her wrinkle her nose at some other time (sweat and blood and dust weren't a good smell on anyone) she found herself glad for it today.

It gave her something to focus on and she needed that desperately.

She counted to ten, timing her breaths with the numbers, trusting Chouji and Sakura to keep an eye out as Ino attempted to throttle her fear.

Even with all that effort, Sakura's feather-light touch on her arm nearly sent her flying out of her skin. Ino flinched, biting down on her tongue so hard she drew blood to keep from screaming-_don't scream, don't scream, don't fucking scream because that will draw shinobi to us like moths to flame so don't you dare scream_-and shuddered with the effort of keeping her reaction less noticeable than it was.

Which was a lost cause and she knew it. That didn't stop her from trying.

"Chouji," Sakura's voice was barely a whisper. They didn't dare any louder sound. "We need to stop."

Chouji shifted-Ino was close enough that she could tell that much-and she suspected that he nodded. "Up first," he said and suited his words to action.

Ino narrowed her world to his chakra signature, and Sakura's cradling her back, and forced herself to follow him. It was the last thing she wanted to do but this whole exam was that and following Chouji up and up could at least give her an illusion of them getting out of the tunnel.

He stopped two hundred yards up from their old position. Far enough that anyone who'd have heard their whispers before wouldn't be able to now. Ino just leaned against the wall, bracing herself by sticking her back to it with chakra, and closed her eyes.

Just breathe, she told herself, keep breathing and it'll be okay. _I promise. I know I don't believe me but I'm going to promise anyway. _

"This isn't working," Sakura hissed. "We can't get into fights like this-look at what this place is doing to her. We need to get to an exit and get out fast."

"I know," Chouji said and Ino tried to convince herself that, really, what they were saying was unfair.

Except that it wasn't and she knew it. Ino hated that too.

"We're still at least five tunnels from our nearest exit," he said in his usually comforting rumble. "That's not something we can get through fast."

Sakura crossed her arms. Ino didn't need to see that to know she was. That was just what Sakura would do and so Ino assumed that was what she did. "We need to move faster," Sakura said stubbornly. "What if we were willing to sacrifice some... subtlety?"

"Oh?"

Sakura told them, finishing with asking Chouji, "Unless you think that's impossible for you to do?"

It could have come out insulting or challenging, instead Sakura just made it sound like a question of fact, plain and simple, and if he couldn't do it then, well, he couldn't.

Ino was almost certain that she wouldn't have been able to say it that cleanly.

Chouji was silent for a moment. "I should be able to," he said, "but isn't it dangerous?"

"I like it," Ino said abruptly. "Sure, it destroys any chance of us getting anywhere by stealth but if we do it right then we'll get to our goal before..."

_Before I go mad,_ she thought. _I want out of here more than anything. No matter what we've got to do._

Out loud she said something different. "Before we get caught by another team, I mean. They're going to think we've lost all sense we were born with."

"We have," Chouji said grimly, but didn't argue with her. "Then here's what we've got to do..."

Eighty minutes left.

* * *

Thanks to all who've read this far! :) I hope you'll let me know what you think. I know some of you won't like the OCs, but please give them a chance. I can't do this arc without them!

And for anyone who might be curious about what Shikamaru's gotten up to while Ino and Chouji are in Kumo, _Sky on Fire: Walk Through Shadow_ can be found in my profile and is completely written so you won't have to wait for updates on that.


	25. Chapter 15: Blind III

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 15 Blind (Part III)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Word Count: 7,956  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 15 of ? Unbeta'd.

**Note:** Ino/Sakura/Chouji aren't even in this part. That's just how the scene breaks split. Deal. For those of you who've asked politely about a list of OCs connected to the Chuunin Exam arc, I've placed a list at the end of this part for you.

* * *

"I changed my mind," Sayuri announced, slumping against the tunnel wall dramatically. "There is seriously no point in even trying to tail our mark in this situation. I mean, what's the point of having observers and giving them specific teams and then dumping them all willy-nilly in the dark with no way to find the people they're supposed to be watching?"

Hideki snickered. She kicked him and, as he yelped, had to admit that it made her feel better to have done so.

_Nothing wrong with a little bit of violence, _she thought virtuously.

She didn't even have to feel bad about talking loudly. They stood in a jutsu circle that she'd drawn with ink and her blood and then activated. It was a genjutsu, but a twisty one: it would keep anyone from noticing they were there, no matter if they attempted to seek them by sound, chakra usage, or sight.

And if it got broken, Sayuri was pretty sure it would hold the first attack back long enough for them to get into proper fighting position. They were about as safe as anyone could be, she figured, considering their circumstances.

It was too bad that this jutsu couldn't be used while moving. Though, given time, Sayuri thought she might be able to come up with ways around that… with a sigh she dragged her errant musings back to the present, with the exam and their current situation. Even though thinking about any of it made her want to grind her teeth.

"Maybe it's a test for us too," Inori pointed out. "Maybe they want us to prove that we can manage to pass the standard exam _and _the one they've set up for us."

She scowled. She couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, that was right. It would fit what she knew of the higher-ups and that meant...

"Do you think that how well we do on the trailing part will affect our chances to be made Chuunin?" she wondered. "Even if we get knocked out of the finals early?"

Everyone knew what the finals would be. That was always the same. The things that changed were the methods of weeding out those who were somehow inadequate.

_And if someone thinks that about me and my team, I'll shove their inadequate up their ass, _Sayuri thought mutinously.

"I'm not sure they would for this exam," Hideki offered, having regained some semblance of calm. "I mean, we're all pretty disadvantaged except for a few lucky ones with jutsu for just this sort of circumstance."

"Or bloodlines," Inori interjected.

"Or bloodlines," Hideki said. "But there's not many of those in here who're specifically meant to be able to fight underground in the dark."

"Yeah," Sayuri sighed, "including us."

"That's true," Hideki said. "But that's why we've managed to adapt-with your circle, we've got time to plan. We took out that first team easy, but that was luck."

Luck and the fact that one of the enemy had broken their leg while falling down the tunnel.

"Pathetic," Sayuri opined. She'd said the same thing to the guy ('_you dare call yourself a shinobi like this? pathetic'_) before slitting his throat and stealing his number. She didn't feel the slightest bit guilty for that either.

After all, everything was fair in love and war. And this was a substitute for war which clearly meant wartime rules applied.

She fiddled with the numbers. "We've got a lot of options," she admitted, "and we're not far from some of them. You guys think we ought to make for an exit or do you think we should take our chances and track down the team we're supposed to observe. If they're not already dead, I mean."

Inori held up his hand, which glowed faintly in the dark, showing off the seamless band wrapped around his wrist and shook his head. "They're still alive," he said. "All three of their beads are accounted for." He sighed. "If we'd been able to get our hands on hair or something, I'd be able to tell you if they were injured or not-or if they were using a jutsu right this second. As it is, going from chakra signature alone, they're alive."

Sayuri bit down on her lip. If she was honest with herself, she had to admit that she was less than enthused about going off into the dark to find a team she didn't even think was worth the trouble.

But what if that was part of the exam? She couldn't be certain that it wasn't.

"Hideki? Inori?" she asked. "What do you guys think? There are good parts to both options, as far as I can see, and that's what makes this hard."

"Too bad we can't tell how far away they are," Hideki murmured. "There's not a lot we can do without that. Inori's toy is all well and good-"

"It's not a toy."

"-but there's a lot of tunnels and a lot of bloodthirsty teams in here. Is that worth it? What if they're opposite of us? We'd have to fight our way through every tunnel and once we were there, we'd have to hope that the team didn't see us or notice us and then try to get another one of Sayuri's shields up and those take time."

She flushed. "I'm still working on my speed," she snapped. "It's not easy to do seven hundred and thirty six individual lines in a short period of time."

"I wasn't ragging on you," he said, "but it's true."

She huffed. "Okay," she said, "so you're in favour of saying 'screw this' to the observing part of our task for this exam and going to find the nearest exit. Inori, what about you?"

Inori shifted, the muted shush of leather and fishnet giving him away. "I have to agree," he said slowly. "I would rather stick around and try our skills, but the situation is dange-"

The wall above them exploded in a shower of dust and rock and something large and heavy impacted against the next wall. Hideki swore, using words she hadn't even known he'd known, while Inori grabbed her shoulder and held it tightly in his grip. She'd have a bruise later, she knew, from where he held her.

The bruise would be worth it. His touch gave her a focus to ground herself with as she drew her focus and concentration in tight as the wall above them continued to spit rock and dirt down on them. She spun her chakra, lighting up all of those lines that she'd drawn so painstakingly and shoved more of her chakra into it. _Please hold,_ she begged, _please hold so that I can kill whatever abysmally stupid person who thought knocking down walls while we're all trapped in tunnels was a good idea. I'll kill them, promise, so please hold long enough to keep be alive to do that._

She coughed on the dust-she couldn't keep that out-and forced more of her chakra into the circle. Sayuri knew that she was pushing it, that it was dangerous for her to be spending so much of her energy at this point in the game but there was nothing else they could do.

"Look," Hideki hissed, "they're trying to get through to the next tunnel now."

Sayuri shuddered at the thought. "We need to get out of here," she said quickly, "before this area gets too destabilized. We really have no idea how strong this structure is-what if they hit one of the crucial supports? Then we'd all be dead."

Which, quipped the tiny unaffected part of her mind, would be a pretty hard showing for an international exam. She winced. That _would_wind up in war. And not one, she thought, that Kumo would have a great chance at winning. Not if all the other villages united against them.

"Sayuri," Inori murmured. "You know what you were saying about the team we needed to follow?"

She scowled. "Yes, but is this really the time for that?"

"I think it's them," Inori said, rubbing at his eyes. "I can't see clearly, but look-if you watch for it..." He showed her the bracelet. "Their beads are brighter," he said, "which means they're very close."

Sayuri stared at the beads. One was a dark green, one a blood red. Both of those were perfectly acceptable shinobi colours, she thought, and had to approve.

But the third...

The third was a shocking pink.

"Don't tell me," she said, resigned. "The pink is for the girl with the glasses."

"Since you asked me not to tell," Inori said, "I won't."

"But he just did," Hideki pointed out. "What do you guys think? I'm all for following them now. It's not like they're being stealthy."

"They're as stealthy as an elephant learning to dance," Sayuri snapped and, before she could think better of it, she leaned forward and scuffed out on of her jutsu markers. The rest of them, without the support they needed, cascaded down around them. She drew as much of her chakra back from it as possible. If this went badly she was going to need the energy. "Let's go."

"Wonder what they're thinking," Inori said as braced themselves for the final collapse of the shield. "I mean, there's reckless and then there's this."

"I don't wonder about that," Hideki said. "You know what I wonder about?"

Sayuri counted to ten and seriously thought about not asking as the team, the one they were supposed to trail, broke through the far wall with another brutal shaking of the walls, and then gave in. "What?" she asked, the question barely audible over the sound of more rock falling.

Her shield gave a final shiver and faded away. Sayuri felt naked without it though she schooled herself to not show it.

She didn't need to see him to know Hideki was grinning. "How the fuck did they get that fat kid even _fatter_?"

"Good question," Inori said dryly, "maybe you can ask later."

"Let's just go," Sayuri sighed. "If we lose them now, that's just stupid of us."

Seventy minutes left.

* * *

The Jounin Examiner Maki arched one eyebrow at the monitors as the floor began shaking. "Interesting," she said, smiling grimly. "Someone preempted us."

What to do, what to do?

It was a bit early still and yet… if someone was already shaking the walls then, really, who was she to keep them from making the exam just that much more urgent for them all.

Maki flipped a few switches and spoke into an intercom. "Stage Avalanche is now in operation."

She went back to smiling at the monitors as deep inside the tunnels, supports disappeared and walls began trembling-more than could be accounted for by the… enterprising team… that had begun smashing through walls first.

But then Maki doubted that any of the teams who survived would realize that for some time.

It would be interesting, she thought, to see what they made of it.

* * *

Midori ducked under the swing of a katana and bubbled with a laugh. She spun up the wall, twirling gratuitously just because she could, and flung herself back down the wall, before the enemy could realize what she was doing, with kunai in her hands. Up and down and slash and clang!

It was like a song, she thought happily as her opponent blocked her and then went on the offensive. She couldn't stop laughing and since Natsu and Ryu were busy with their own fights-she could feel them, like an itch under her skin, only the itch was more something that appealed than reviled, and they were having their own fun-they weren't going to tell her to keep it down.

The sound of her laughter echoed quite satisfyingly in the enclosed space as she leapt from the wall to the other side of the tunnel. _Come on,_ she thought eagerly, like a puppy in a park for the first time ever, _come on, come on, come on!_

Her opponent figured out where she was and Midori was forced to dodge shuriken. One got her and sunk into the skin of her shoulder. It burned and she couldn't help but feel glad. It was okay to get hurt because she was going to hurt them back and worse and so it was only fair and even though Botan-sensei said over and over that as a shinobi she wasn't supposed to play fair...

What he didn't know couldn't possibly hurt him.

Midori was _always_ fair in her own way. Another shuriken sank into her thigh and she tugged it out heedless of the damage that could cause. It was okay, she chanted, still laughing, still feeling really really _good_, still glad that she'd gotten an opponent who knew what they were doing, and as they threw a third handful of shuriken, Midori danced up the wall and then flung herself over their throw. Her sandals went clack-clack-clack on the rock and she was certain that was how they were tracking her.

But that was the point, really, so Midori merely congratulated them on noticing and cut her jump short.

Instead of reaching the other wall, where they'd be able to continue the dance of death, she dropped and dropped and she burst into a new bout of giggles as she landed right behind her opponent. They swore, their voice distorted enough that she couldn't tell if they were male or female, and spun for her.

Midori's hand brushed their face and a spark of chakra trembled between them.

Her opponent recoiled, shrieking horribly, in what Midori had heard was some of the worst agony anyone could experience. They collapsed on the ground, writhing. She watched avidly as their chakra went berserk-that much she could see clearly-and knelt down next to her opponent.

"Hey," Midori said, her voice breathless and excited. "Can you get out of that?"

"He won't be able to," Ryu said, coming up behind her. "They never are."

She leaned back against his legs and peered up at where his face would be above her. "Mama says some can," she said calmly. "One day I've got to meet someone who can." Midori mulled over that. "Maybe my new friend will be able to! Wouldn't that be grand?"

Ryu rested one hand on her head as the screams went on and on and on with no sign of stopping. "Maybe," he said, "but I don't think this one is going to manage that."

"How did you know it was a boy?" she asked, wriggling her head a little. It felt good, having him pet her hair, and Midori had never been one to give up what felt good to her.

"I got the girl," he told her. "Our fight made it... quite clear of that."

"He means he groped her, Midori-chan," Natsu said, sounding dry. "I caught that much of their fight while dealing with my bastard. Playing with your latest toy, love?"

"Yes!" she chirped. "But Ryu says he doesn't look like a good prospect."

"No," Natsu said, after a few moments where Midori knew he was listening to the increasingly shrill screams. Midori admired the way the chakra was turning in on itself and ripping new pathways through the nin. It was a sight she never ever got tired of. "I don't think he is."

"Midori," Ryu said, "put him out of his misery."

She pouted. "But I don't want to—we haven't gotten to the best part yet!"

"I know," he said, "but we haven't got the time for it right now. It's too dangerous."

"I don't think it is," she said sulkily. "Who'd be stupid enough to come running towards the sound of him?"

"I'm sure there will be someone," Ryu said dryly. "Put your pet out of his misery, Midori."

She stared up at him, though she couldn't see him, and contemplated not listening. He couldn't kill her for this exam-that was in the rules and he wasn't likely to kill her anyway since he hadn't done so yet...

But it was true that her pet wasn't exactly kicking out of it and that was distressing to her. Boring, she thought, and sighed. Then, before she could give into the urge to argue to see if he could stay alive for even five more minutes, just to see if he could get out in that time, Midori reached out and twisted his strained and tortured chakra ties together and then pulled them away.

The screaming stopped abruptly. She dusted her hands off on her shorts as his chakra fizzled into nothingness and got up. "I guess we should go," she said, sighing. "Since we're not likely to have all that much fun now, right?"

Natsu knelt over the body, his chakra swirling around his body and giving his presence away as he came into contact with the corpse. Midori sat on the urge to touch his chakra. She could just imagine the scoldings she'd get if she played with her teammates' life when they had to all three of them get through this alive.

She closed her hands tightly and turned around to wrap her arms around Ryu. "It's not fair," she said. It was easier to keep from giving into any urge to mess with Natsu when she wasn't looking at him. And Ryu always felt steady and comforting and strong. If he hadn't been on her team and thus off-limits, Midori often thought that she'd have made him her best friend _ever_. "Why doesn't anyone ever survive?"

Midori knew she was whining and didn't care. Why not? Why shouldn't she get what she wanted? Especially when all they had to do was survive and that was what all of them were supposedly trained to do.

"Because they're not up to your standard," Ryu said, the answer as rote as her question.

She sighed again.

"It's alright," Ryu told her. "You'll get other chances to play in this exam."

"This stage?" she asked dubiously. Even she knew that was unlikely. They had a timeline and all their awesome wasn't going to stop the clock from moving one bit.

The answer was the one she'd expected. "No," he said, "but this exam, yes. We've got at least one more before the semi-finals, if they're needed this year, and then there's going to be the finals a month from now. We'll manage to get you another toy. Maybe we can even use your new friend."

"Maybe." Midori thought about that. "I wonder if she could deal with it?"

"We'll never know until you try."

"Got it," Natsu said. There was the soft shush of fabric as he moved away from the body. "The question now is, what door do we want to go out of?"

"What are our options?" Ryu asked, one arm around her shoulders.

"We've got several of them," Natsu said, with the sound of cards being flipped and shuffled together to accompany his words. "Not this one, but..."

Midori listened as he went on, content in the knowledge that her team would pass this exam (how could they not?) and then they'd be able to find someone more interesting for them to play with and that would be the grandest thing ever.

She hoped it happened soon.

Sixty five minutes left.

* * *

_If we die here,_ Sasame thought, ducking and rolling under a gout of flame, _then Orochimaru-sama will be rightfully pissed. And if that happens then it's better if we die here._

He hit the wall and went up it rather than coming to a stop. Up and up and up, out of the range of the flame-for the moment, at least, until the other Genin figured out where he'd gone.

Sasame squinted down at the battlefield, using the flickers of fire-this team all seemed to have it as their motif which was rich when. as far as he could tell, they weren't even from the Fire Country-and his familiarity with his teammates' chakra to figure out what was going on. Nariko was dealing with her enemy handily, though her back was against a wall and he knew that was a sign that she was pressed more than she would like to admit.

But Hiro... Hiro needed help. Sasame told himself, as he flung himself into a run back down that wall and past his opponent, that this was stupid. They were a team but they weren't supposed to care about each other. All of them knew that. All of them knew what the price tag for attachments was in Oto. Attachments were one more chain for Orochimaru-sama to wrap around them and keep them captive.

That, he was rapidly finding, meant absolutely nothing when it came to preventing those attachments from forming.

He could tell himself that saving Hiro meant nothing but just looking out for a teammate because they couldn't progress if they didn't all make it. He would probably tell Hiro that.

Sasame knew why though and it was because of the edged and icy fear that tracked down his spine at the thought of Hiro getting hurt. Fire lit up the tunnel and Sasame could feel the heat of it against his back. He didn't bother to look back. His opponent had figured out he'd gone somewhere.

The important thing was the other one. He could only tell what the nin looked like in the vaguest of details. A glimpse of long hair, a katana, a long jacket with fishnet leggings.

Hiro stumbling back, bleeding in several places.

Sasame's fingers flew through a set of seals that he'd learnt at the knee of his father, long before he'd even started properly training to be a shinobi, and murmured the name of his jutsu.

There was a moment of silence, as the shinobi turned to face him, leaving Hiro alone, as if they'd become aware of the other threat. _But it's too late,_ Sasame thought as he counted down. _Three, two, one..._

All that long hair turned against the enemy nin abruptly. It lifted up, of its own volition, and wrapped around the nin's neck and began to squeeze. The katana dropped to the ground with a steely clatter as Sasame made his way past the still struggling nin to get to Hiro.

"I'm so glad I can't see that," Hiro said weakly. Another flare of light let Sasame see that he was trying to staunch the flow of blood. "And you wonder why Nari-chan and I won't grow out our hair."

"Don't be stupid," Sasame said, kneeling down beside him. He tugged a glow stick from his pouch and snapped and shook it. It lit their area with a greenish glow.

"That's dangerous."

"Not really," Sasame replied, listening to the sounds behind him. "Nariko's got her enemy down and she's going to finish off mine. As for yours... they won't be doing a whole lot now. Now shut up and let me see what I can do."

He gave a blood replenisher, a mild painkiller (mild because they couldn't afford to have one of their members go loopy on them) and a soldier pill along with his canteen to Hiro.

Hiro grimaced as he swallowed them but said nothing about their lack of taste. "Sorry," he said, "I didn't even account for one."

"It's fine. As long as we get through this, no one is going to know. I think you got the leader any how."

"That shouldn't matter," Hiro replied as Sasame closed his eyes and searched for the concentration to summon what medical jutsu he knew. He wasn't the best at it and Hiro's easy acceptance of the fact that he was going to heal him made Sasame feel in equal parts elated and apprehensive.

What if he screwed up?

"Oh?" he asked, his voice absent.

"I'm going to blame that on your preoccupation," Hiro said conversationally as another flare of fire blasted above them. "Because you know as well as I do that saying we couldn't take out an enemy because they were the leader of a team wouldn't be accepted in Oto."

Ah ha, there. Sasame smiled slightly as he felt the chakra come to hand. His hands began glowing softly, with a pale green light. He placed one hand over the worst of the cuts on Hiro's abdomen and the other hand over the nasty scratch on Hiro's head. Head wounds always bled a lot, he knew, but he was healing it for another reason.

A head injury, even a mild one, could spell a death sentence in here faster than almost any other injury.

Sasame rather thought that the only injury that would be even worse to have in here would be a hand injury. Jutsu required hands and...

"So what?" Sasame said, distantly realizing that Hiro was waiting for an answer. "As long as we survive, no one needs to know. You'll get your chance to shine too."

"A chance to shine?" Nariko's voice interrupted them. She sounded bright and almost giddy. There was a pale silver glow around her that came from the whip she held in her hands. As she talked, she coiled it back up neatly, heedless of the blood that was falling off it.

And why would she care? Sasame wondered as he bent his head over the fading injuries as Hiro answered her. Her weapon likes the blood. He knew that if he raised his head and watched her, any blood that was on her clothing and her skin would be disappearing, sucked up by the whip.

They'd use it to clean Hiro up. Another way to keep it from looking like they'd gotten in trouble. There was nothing they could do about the clothing but, Sasame rather thought, as he sat back on his heels and let his chakra fade away, that was all the better.

Looking roughed up for a Chuunin exam was the norm. They would be ignored if they did. It was the teams that were going to come out of this looking like they'd been out for a walk in a park that would be getting the side-eye.

Nariko dropped the whip on Hiro as Sasame dug out a soldier pill of his own and swallowed it dry. Healing always wore him out and the bubbling warmth of artificial energy was a welcome boost.

He'd crash out later of course, and so would Hiro, but that was a matter of necessity and for now... well, as long as they got some rest or a chance to sleep in the next week they could keep using soldier pills almost indefinitely so long as they were careful not to overdose and risk over-taxing their chakra coils.

"How dead are they?" Sasame asked Nariko, stealing his canteen back from Hiro and sipping from it.

"Very," she said and glanced behind her. "So is yours. Nice work on that one."

Sasame shrugged. As far as he was concerned the nice work he'd done was slowly sitting up, still clutching the whip as it drank off the blood on his skin and clothes. Hiro wasn't dead.

The world looked a little brighter.

"They should've known that having long hair is a liability," Sasame said placidly. "Someone would've figured out how to exploit it by now, after all. And it might look pretty but it isn't very practical."

Nariko made a face at him. Her hair fell just to her shoulders and he knew that she wanted it longer.

But she knew that it was dangerous. Having him on her team amply proved that and where one shinobi knew how to exploit a weakness like that there would be others.

"Either way," she said, "we're in the clear. They're from Iwa, which is rich. I don't think they knew who we were at all."

"Sort of hard to tell," Hiro murmured a bit dryly. He was looking better by the minute, as much as Sasame could tell by glow stick anyway. "We should be lucky it wasn't that team from Konoha. We'd be in shit if we'd killed all three of them."

"Nah," Nariko said, "like Sasame said, down here? Who would know?"

"We would," Sasame replied. "And that would be the problem when it came to facing Orochimaru-sama again. Do you really think we could lie to him?"

All three of them fell silent at that.

"No," Nariko said reluctantly. "You're right, Hiro. We should be very glad it wasn't them. Especially since in this situation the smartest reaction is kill first and ask questions later."

"It helps," Sasame said, "that their team is oddly composed. Standard is two guys and a girl. They've got the opposite. I didn't notice many other teams like that, did you?"

Hiro shook his head and Nariko murmured a negation.

"So we'll have to keep that in mind," Sasame continued. "We'll be able to tell them apart that way."

"In the dark?" Nariko said skeptically. "I mean, I'll be the first to admit that we're good but we're not that good, Sasame. We can't see in the dark any better than most of the teams."

He lifted the glow stick and found himself studying a number placed a few feet up on the wall. A tiny metal slot, just big enough for the cards they'd been given. To the side of it, in the middle of the wall, was a closed door.

Sasame smiled.

"It doesn't matter," he said, getting to his feet and watching as Hiro labouriously did the same.

"What are you talking about?" Hiro asked, looking over his clothes and, seeing no blood, handing the whip back to Nariko.

"Look," he said, "we're at our exit. We're getting out of this hellhole."

Nariko whipped around. Hiro did the same, but slowly.

"No way," Nariko said, "we just came in here because we were being chased."

"Luck," Hiro intoned, "is also part of being a shinobi."

Sasame rolled his eyes, smiling despite that. "Give me your cards," he said, "and we'll finish this."

They were handed over before he finished speaking. With a soft laugh, Sasame went up the wall and one after the other inserted the cards. There was a breathless moment of silence and then a grating sound.

The door opened.

Sixty minutes left.

* * *

He leaned against the cool rock of the tunnel and pretended that would help to soothe his headache. It didn't, but Neji was inclined to try and make himself believe it would.

Patience, he thought, keeping a sharp eye out for where his teammates were. Their chakra coils as well known to him as the steps of Jyuuken. There was Tenten, her coils bright and sharp and tight, checking over a wall. There was Lee, whose coils were dimmed and flickered oddly in places.

He closed his eyes-with the Byakugan active it didn't matter if he had them open or not-and swept their area for enemy nin.

They couldn't be too careful.

"Found it," Tenten said triumphantly, but very quietly. "You were right, Neji."

Lee beamed so brightly that Neji half-thought that the area they were in was going to light up in response. It didn't. He blamed long association with Lee and Gai-sensei for even considering that as a possibility.

"Good," he said, "and there's no one around here to stop us."

Not any more.

The shaking of the tunnels-worse to the far left of them-had startled Genin out of there like rabbits fleeing from a wolf and as for the team that had been hiding in this particular tunnel, either for an ambush in hopes of getting the numbers they needed to get through the door, or because they were biding their time before moving on...

Neji surveyed their bodies dispassionately. The heat of their chakra was fast dissipating into the darkness and soon he wouldn't be able to tell where they were at all. He felt no guilt for what his team had done. If they hadn't, then they would have been killed in turn.

_And I have learned that destiny is what you make it,_ Neji thought, _and I decided that my destiny did not end here, in a dark tunnel, on enemy land._

He knew that Lee hadn't even considered the possibility of losing and that Tenten had been determined to not.

Neji felt a momentary fondness for his team. They were occasionally idiots, but he was used to them. And if they weren't then it meant serious things were going on. Even though this was an exam, they were light-hearted.

_Why shouldn't they be?_ he thought. _After all, we're more than a match for most of Genin in here._

There was a soft _snick _as the door slid open.

"Come on," Tenten said, and went through it. Lee followed.

Neji took a long look around the tunnel, uncertain as to why he was hesitating, but seeing nothing with the Byakugan active, he went.

Even if something _was_there, after all, they'd passed this exam. That was the important thing. The door swung shut behind them.

Fifty-five minutes left.

* * *

"Yasuo," Akira hissed, "is there any way to tell what's shaking the walls?"

They were perched up in the corner of one of the tunnels that headed upwards and as long as the walls kept shaking, Akira had no intentions of moving their team. If the whole thing came down, being up high might save them-once the tunnels began going he was almost certain that there'd be gaps that they might be able to escape through.

"Does it matter?" Ima asked, her voice steady despite the shaking of the walls. "I mean, either way, we've got two choices: go and dare the shaking down there and hope nothing falls on us, or stay up here and fail the exam miserably."

Akira grimaced. That was true enough that he didn't like looking at it. "None of us are equipped to dig ourselves out of rock and our combined number of earth jutsu are nil, Ima," he said. "We can't take unnecessary risks."

"We're going to have to if we want to pass this," Ima said, "you know as well as I do that we're not that far from our goal, just a couple of tunnels. That's manageable in a pretty short period of time and I can't hear any fighting going on down right below us. Just the walls."

"There's no heat signatures either," Yasuo murmured, his voice gone dreamy from the effort of looking. "I would know if that was the case. No one ever thinks to hide that. They'll hide their chakra, their scent, their foot steps but not their body heat."

Akira could imagine the shrug Ima gave at that. "See?" she said, right on cue. "Look, I don't want to fail out here during the first real exam. The whole getting to the room was just to weed out those who were the real failures, right? We all agreed on that."

He rubbed the bridge of his nose. Yasuo would notice but Ima wouldn't and so he felt safe enough to do that. It didn't help with his level of annoyance but Akira pretended it did.

If he pretended long enough, he thought wryly, maybe it would come true.

The walls around them shook ominously. Akira braced himself better and grabbed Ima when she wobbled slightly. "More chakra to your feet," he told her.

"I know that," she said. "I just got distracted."

He let go of her arm the moment she was stabilized again. Akira studied the darkness and how featureless it was and knew he didn't want to die in here. But he didn't want to lose the exam either.

What to do?

The sound of the walls was unnerving him and he acknowledged that fear and then tucked it inside of him. He couldn't afford to give into non-thinking like that. Not when it wasn't just him he had to see through this. It was also Ima and Yasuo.

And Kioshi-sensei, who had faith in them that they'd put on a good showing in this exam. Akira didn't want to make Konoha look bad, he really didn't, but all the same...

He didn't want to wind up with all of them buried under rock and more rock where no one would ever be able to find their bodies and get them home. This wasn't the same as a mission, he thought, despite the fact it was considered to be almost like one.

Ima shifted next to him. "What is it?" he asked.

"Nothing," she muttered, "I was just moving. Do you think whatever is attacking the walls is getting further away?"

Yasuo snorted.

Akira resisted the urge to do the same. It was obvious that the walls were shaking worse and worse with every passing minute. He still couldn't bring himself to tell her that-not when she had a hopeful note in her voice.

The walls were shaking worse... Akira knew he had to make a decision and make it soon if they wanted to have a chance at getting ahead of whatever it was that was going through the walls.

"Yasuo," he said, "are you getting any heat signatures besides us?"

If no enemies were really below them then they were going to move, he decided, because it was becoming increasingly obvious that they weren't going to have much of a choice about moving if they wanted to get out of here alive.

"Nothing," Yasuo said. "We heading out, boss?"

"We'll try it," Akira said with finality. "We might get crushed but at least we'll make an effort to get to where our door ought to be. Keep low, keep quiet, and we'll do our best to sneak past the other teams. The noise from the walls will help us in that. No one is going to be able to hear over that."

"All the better," Ima said as they stood.

"All the better," Akira echoed with less conviction. "Yasuo, if you spot anyone let me know and we'll figure out how to get around them."

It was the last thing he wanted to do but, nonetheless, he led them down and down and down the tunnel. Their feet were silent on the rock as they picked their way towards where their upward tunnel matched up with a horizontal one.

We only need to move two gates, Akira thought, and that's not that bad. It's just a matter of getting there without dying.

Piece of cake, right?

He shook his head as they touched the ground. "Yasuo." Akira's voice was a whisper that barely made it past his lips.

Yasuo didn't answer him verbally, but he slipped past Ima and him and further down the tunnel. Akira and Ima drifted over to the side of it, feeling the trembling in the rock. He wondered again what was doing that. Some idiotic Iwa Genin showing off? Was this part of the exam? A weakness in the tunnels that someone had found by getting smashed into it?

As long as it didn't make the whole place fall on them Akira didn't much care. It felt like forever before Yasuo returned by he knew that only perhaps five minutes had passed.

"We're clear," Yasuo breathed, "and it looks like a clean run straight to our tunnel."

If it hadn't been so relentlessly, entirely dark, Akira would have exchanged a glance with Ima. They trusted Yasuo, they did.

But that sounded too good to be true.

_Please let it be true, _Akira thought. "Alright," he said, "we'll make for it. Keep an eye out. Listen for changes in the sounds, Ima."

"And you?"

"I'll look for changes in the light." All of them had their own strengths. It made sense to play to them rather than struggling with something that one of them wasn't very good at.

The run through the tunnels was, for Akira, an exercise in horror. Every step they took might be their last as the walls around them jumped and shook and the floor underneath their feet trembled so violently that twice Yasuo slipped and fell and Akira had to brace himself more and more frequently with chakra to keep from doing the same thing. Ima grimly kept to her feet, or if she fell she did it so silently that Akira wasn't aware of it.

Maybe it wasn't too good to be true, he thought, as they made their way down on tunnel, moving as fast as they dared to get to their next goal. After all, it was looking more and more likely that the other teams who'd been in this area had abandoned it.

Akira wished he could.

It was too bad that their number matched one of the ones that they theorized was down here.

No, he decided, that was an understatement that failed to adequately express how he felt about this. It was devastatingly poor luck that had them setting down this way was the walls jumped around them.

"Oh god," Ima moaned, "I changed my mind, can we go perch up in the tops of tunnels again?"

Yasuo snickered.

"No," Akira said even as a crash echoed behind him. It was loud enough that he felt, for a moment, like he was stuck in a bell. "No, I don't think we can go back any more."

"Don't tell me that," Ima said. "I'm trying to ignore the crashes behind us."

The crashes, Akira thought, made it pretty clear to all of them that their chances of survival if they went backwards weren't going to be very high. All they could do was move forward.

"I know," he said, "but we can't go back. So we've got to go forward."

It was on the tip of his tongue to offer to light up a glow stick or their collapsible lantern but that would just be asking for more trouble. They couldn't be the only person who'd fled the noise and the destruction of the tunnels.

And Ima would think he was insulting her. Which wasn't it at all; Akira was the one who wanted the light so badly that he could almost taste it.

"Yasuo."

"Still nothing," Yasuo reported simply.

Akira nodded. "We're picking up our pace."

He left unspoken the fact that he didn't dare keep them moving slowly with the sounds increasing behind him. They started building speed slowly, using chakra to stick to the rock to give surety to their steps, as they wound their way through one tunnel and then down the next.

"It should be around here," Akira said, his voice tight. The air was getting harder to breathe as the dust kicked up from the destruction got worse and worse.

There was a _snap _and then a pale glow filled their area. He looked at Ima, who was shaking the glow stick to get it brighter, reproachfully.

"Don't give me that," she said, her voice rough from the dust. "You wanted it and honestly, if we didn't have light, it would take us forever to find the door and we don't _have _forever thanks to whatever is behind us."

"Alright," he said, because he couldn't argue with any of that. "Let's find it then." Akira tugged out his own glow stick and snapped and shook it to life. "Spread out and search. Don't go too far and stay in this tunnel."

They nodded, the movements made eerie by the light.

By the time the found the door, seven minutes later by Akira's count, the walls of their tunnel were beginning to shatter.

"Hurry," he said as Ima shoved their cards into the slot.

"I'm trying," she snapped as she slid the last one in.

The silence before the door opened was unbearable. Then it was open and Akira urged Ima and Yasuo through it before going himself.

The door shut behind them and the tunnel collapsed in the same breath.

Fifty minutes left.

* * *

"Ain't that interesting?" Masanori murmured as Tsubaki-hime dropped her illusion. "He didn't notice us at all."

"Ten feet from him," Taka said, "and he couldn't tell we were there."

Masanori hid a smile as he felt Tsubaki-hime cross her arms. "He almost did," she said, a huff in her voice that had everything to do with the fact that her illusion hadn't been perfect enough to escape notice entirely. "I mean, why else would he hesitate that way?"

"Who cares?" Taka asked. "He didn't see us while his bloodline was active and that's what matters."

"But what if that's just a product of the environment?" Tsubaki-hime's voice was worried. "It's dark and there's no light. In here the only thing I really had to hide from him was our chakra and he couldn't see us at all and even _then _he almost noticed us."

Masanori winced. He knew that tone of voice well. She was working herself up to fret for hours about her jutsu. "Tsubaki-hime," he said before she could start up again, "it was a good test. We'll have other tests-there's going to be an entire month between the finals and the semi-final test. That's time enough to try to fool his eyes without being suspicious."

She sighed and Masanori smiled faintly at the lessening of tension from her. "True," she conceded grudgingly. "And it won't be hard to manufacture reasons to be around either. I think they're going to be keeping us all in pretty close quarters due to the security risks."

"Ha," Taka said, laughing softly. "Maybe for the other teams. For the good little native teams like us, we're there for spying and just that."

Masanori just shrugged as Tsubaki murmured her agreement to Taka's words. That was likely true. But anyone who'd been permitted to come had to be aware of that. Spying, after all, was part of all of their repertoire.

It was just that some were better than others at it.

"We should head out," he said. "We've got about, what, fifty minutes left?"

There was the tiny glow as Taka checked his watch. "You're good," Taka said, impressed. "Right on the nose."

"Our door isn't far," Tsubaki-hime said. "They wanted to make sure we could follow our assigned teams. That's how we ran into them so easily-we were both heading the same direction."

She didn't say that it was unlikely that they, who'd decided to forego their orders until the next exam, where visibility and conditions might be more favourable in the pursuit of information gathering, would have run into them in any other way.

Contrived, he thought. That's what this is.

Masanori wanted to be disgruntled about it but, really, as long as the commanding Jounin who'd created this exam hadn't rigged the exam in the favour of their Genin then he didn't care. So what if they wanted them to follow a team and learn about them?

Really, he thought with some satisfaction, that just makes it harder on us. We're doing two exams in one.

And how could he be upset about that? It meant that they were trusted with more responsibility than the other teams.

"Masanori," Tsubaki-hime's voice shook him out of his thoughts. "We've got to go."

"Alright," he said, smiling a little helplessly. It didn't matter if he did here. Taka couldn't see him to laugh at him and Tsubaki-hime wouldn't be flustered since she couldn't see it either.

"Just one door over," he said as they slipped back down the tunnel. "Piece of cake."

Forty-five minutes left.

* * *

**Important Characters in the Chuunin Exam Arc**

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 10**  
Sensei: Sarutobi Asuma  
1. Yamanaka Ino  
2. Haruno Sakura  
3. Akimichi Chouji

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 04**  
Sensei: Maito Gai  
1. Tenten  
2. Hyuuga Neji  
3. Rock Lee

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 03**  
Sensei: Ono Kioshi - Long black hair. Ninjutsu specialist. Good at water jutsu. Married. Recently assigned to take over Team 3.  
1. Chiba Yasuo - Brown eyes, advanced senses. Tracks via heat signatures.  
2. Nakamura Ima - Dark blue hair, likes to act stupid. Tracks via sound.  
3. Ito Akira - Red hair, stocky body & excellent at hiding. Recently recovered from a broken wrist. Tracks via light..

Notes: Sakura spent a few weeks on a mission with this team, while they were under the supervision of Shiranui Genma (prior to Kioshi being assigned to look after Team 3). This team is from the graduating class two years above Ino's year and one year above Neji's. Their strongest asset is their ability to seamlessly blend their chakra with each other's.

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 06**  
Sensei: Hamada Reiko - 5'7" and curvy. Honey blonde hair, deep green eyes, and a warm voice. Close to Asuma's age but he doesn't remember her having been in the Academy.  
1. Fujiwara Nobuko - Vain. Quiet around unfamiliar people, cranky with her teammates. Heightened sense of smell. Father killed during Kyuubi's attack, mother died of pneumonia because they weren't able to afford the hospital bills to treat her.  
2. Koga Renjiro - Sarcastic. Able to pass chakra back and forth with Minoru to make a jutsu stronger. Grew up in the slums. Reiko took him in and put him through the Academy.  
3. Yamaguichi Minoru - Blue eyes, mild mannered and affable. Excellent liar. Able to pass chakra back and forth with Renjiro to make a jutsu stronger. Grew up in an affluent family and wanted for nothing.

Notes: This team is in the midst of plotting things with Kumo that are not in Konoha's best interest. This team is from the same graduating class as Neji, Tenten, and Lee.

**[Sand/Suna] Team Kazekage**  
Sensei: Baki  
1. Gaara  
2. Temari  
3. Kankurou

**[Cloud/Kumo] Team 02**  
Sensei: Sugiyama Joben - ?  
1. Kawano Sayuri - Tsubaki's twin sister. (Younger twin.) Grey eyes. Is good at barrier jutsu. Impatient and opinionated. Dark hair, dark skin.  
2. Suzuki Inori - Able to keep track of chakra signatures via a bracelet that shows the signatures in different colours.  
3. Saito Hideki - Blue eyes, orphan, head-hunter. His sleeves drape over his hands.

**[Cloud/Kumo] Team 03**  
Sensei: Kato Yukio - delicate-looking, right side of his face is scarred  
1. Kawano Tsubaki - Sayuri's twin sister. (Older twin.) Grey eyes. Specializes in genjutsu. Polite. Keeps her opinions to herself when it's prudent. Dark hair, dark skin.  
2. Yamazaki Taka - Abilities are well suited for a multi-person takedown. Calls Tsubaki 'Tsubaki-hime', which she hates.  
3. Arai Masanori - Logical and reasonable. Calls Tsubaki 'Tsubaki-hime', which she hates.

**[Sound/Oto] Team Oto**  
Sensei: Yamada Kaori - ?  
1. Goto Nariko - Has a whip that sucks up/soaks in blood.  
2. Kuroki Sasame - Has a crush on Hiro. Can use medical jutsu. Strangles people with their own hair. Brown eyes.  
3. Maruyama Hiro - Low self-esteem. Weakest of the three Oto-nin and aware of the fact. High pain tolerance.

This team doesn't deem it worth the risk to kill Sakura, even if she comes after them. They are, however, willing to kill Sakura's teammates.

**[Grass/Kusa] Team 01**  
Sensei: Abe Matsu - ?  
1. Ochi Sana - Has a bloodline limit involving her (not really) hair. Hair is deep brown w/red highlights. Doesn't like uninteresting things. Able to feel the presence of jutsu in the air. Prefers to work systematically through problems.  
2. Higa Kozue - Able to send his mind through stone/earth to search for things. Makes his voice sound low and sleepy. Prefers hunting over hiding.  
3. Matsuo Haruki - Prefers to take a defensive approach to tasks. Enjoys fighting when it comes to that.

This team has an interest in Takahara Jun, a Kumo Jounin.

**[Stone/Iwa] Team 10**  
Sensei: Mochizuki Botan - ?  
1. Maeda Midori - Green eyes (go orange when bloodline is in use), orange hair, freckles. Has a bloodline limit. Insane. Likes numbers. Claimed Ino as her new 'friend'. Small boned.  
2. Fujii Natsu - Smiles all the time. When he stops smiling, things get messy. Attractive.  
3. Murakami Ryu - Team leader/object of Midori's affection/Midori's keeper. Has touch telepathy. Attractive.

**Other Important People**

[Kumo]

Takahara Jun - Rank: ? Tall. Estimated age is between 20 to 25. Long grey hair. Hitae-ite sewn on the right sleeve of his uniform. Voice is smooth and unremarkable. Team Asuma's guide during the first exam. Assumed by Team Asuma to be a Chuunin. Team Matsu, led by Sana, knows of him as a Jounin.

? - Rank: Jounin. Proctor of the first exam. Has long hair done in cornrows and black eyes. His voice is very deep.

Maki - Rank: Jounin. Proctor of the second exam. Short with cotton-candy blue hair. Eyes are covered with bandages and her hitae-ite. Likes to call the Genin things like 'peaches' and 'cupcakes'.


	26. Chapter 15: Blind IV

Title: Slow Burn  
Chapter: 15 Blind (Part IV)  
Author/Artist: Killaurey  
Word Count: 10,961  
Disclaimer: Naruto doesn't belong to me. It's Kishimoto's and I just play with it. AU immediately after the Sasuke Retrieval Arc. Part 15 of ? Unbeta'd.

**Note:** A who's who list of important characters during this Chuunin Exam arc can be found at the end of the chapter. This list is accurate as of the end of this update. (Character-motivations and abilities that will be revealed later on are _not_on this list.)

Thanks to everyone for 300 reviews!

* * *

"Hi!" Midori said brightly as she stepped behind the Genin who'd been following them around for the past thirty minutes. "Will you be my friend?"

The Genin stiffened and swung around, fist flying towards her. The light of his lantern gave off enough illumination for her to see the movement clearly. She didn't understand why they'd lit one. It was just going to prove to be a bad idea.

She was going to make him see that.

Midori skipped back, giggling. "That's not very nice," she scolded. "After all, you were following us around which means that either you want to be friends or you've been a bad, bad person."

There was the flash of a jutsu from the left and Midori watched it, recognizing Natsu's voice. Ryu's voice was harder to pick out-he had the tendency to speak very, very quietly during battle.

The Genin snarled and rushed at her. She sidestepped again, sticking out one foot in an attempt to trip him.

He didn't fall or stumble and Midori shrugged and supposed that she couldn't have everything she wanted after all.

"How did you notice us?" the Genin asked.

"Oh please," Midori said, still with a giggle on her lips. "Do you think I'd just tell you? I've decided that you've been a bad, bad Genin." She bounced towards him, almost skipping, her hands deliberately held loose and clearly not holding any weapon.

He eyed her warily, the small lantern no doubt showing him precisely what she was.

Too bad, Midori thought happily, that looks were deceiving. Really, she thought, it was so much fun to go about proving that.

"What's that mean for me?" the Genin asked. He held a kunai low and Midori wondered if he really thought she didn't see him. She could see the cloud etched clearly on his hitae-ite now.

Ryu had been right.

Ryu was _always _right.

How many other teams had their own watchers? It didn't really matter, Midori thought, as she skipped one step closer. Close enough to be within stabbing range. Their watchers weren't ever going to leave the tunnels and that was for the best of all involved.

Who knew how much they'd picked up about them already!

"It means," she said cheerfully, bubbling with good humour, "that I'm going to take care of you right now."

He moved. She moved faster.

Her hand brushed his cheek, a tiny unnoticeable spark of chakra flaring at the skin-to-skin contact, as she dove out of the way of his kunai.

There was breathless silence for a moment.

Then his kunai clattered to the ground. Midori picked it up, twirled it in one hand, and tucked it into her belt. His lantern gave her plenty of light to see as his face went first red, then blue, then black due to lack of air combined with some judiciously introduced rot.

She hummed happily. It wasn't nearly as fun as the pain jutsu but it was faster and quieter and Ryu had said that they had to be cautious now because they didn't know if noise would send more watchers after them.

"Bad boy," she told him conversationally, patted him on the head (his hair shifted, like it was no longer attached to his scalp), stole his number, and then left him to his death throes.

No, she thought, it really _isn't _as fun as the pain. Midori skipped over to where Natsu was still fighting and wondered if he'd mind if she stole his opponent.

Probably, she thought, but that wasn't really enough to stop her.

The only thing that did was that, by the time she got over to him, he was pulling his knives out of the Genin's body and the Genin was clearly dead. Midori leaned over his shoulder and peered at the mess he'd made.

"Did she say something bad?" Midori asked curiously. The girl had been all but ripped apart. "You don't normally go like that on girls."

Because Natsu was a silly, she thought, and didn't say that. He knew her views on it and had politely told her a year ago to keep her nose out of his business that way.

Dead was dead, he'd told her. If he preferred chopping up the guys more than the girls, that was his business.

"It's nothing," Natsu said, sounding serene. Midori approved of that. It wasn't the giddy joy she felt but still-a happy Natsu made her happier. "She has paid her dues."

With another glance at the girl, Midori had to agree. She straightened up as Natsu looked like he was going to stand and she took a few steps back, right into someone.

She blinked up and then grinned at Ryu. "You've got blood on your face," she said helpfully.

"It's not mine," Ryu said, wiping it away. "The team is down?"

Midori bounced in place as she nodded and Natsu just glanced at the girl.

"Good," Ryu said, "that's better. We're not going to let any team stalk us in this. You both know our orders. Keep our heads down as much as possible until the finals."

"Is killing the teams really keeping our heads down?" Midori asked artlessly. "Does this mean we can go and kill more of them and things will be even better?"

Natsu laughed softly. Ryu pressed his hands on her shoulders to stop her from bouncing. "No," he told her. "Because if we go kill every team, we'll get more attention. But right now, in the dark, no one is going to notice our presence. And in the first exam, the Jounin won't remember how you did it. That's more of what we need."

"Alright," she sighed, "it's not very fun though. I can't wait for the finals."

Maybe she'd even get to fight against her friend! Midori was pretty sure that if she got that, she could wait a whole month before going to go see her on her own. She shivered with excitement.

"Let's go." Natsu blew out the lantern and they all closed their eyes for a few moments to help with getting their eyes used to the darkness again. "We're not far from our door now."

"How many more exams do you think they'll give us?" Midori asked Ryu eagerly. "They've got to have lost a lot of us in here. Not us, though," she added after a moment.

"Not us," he agreed. "And I don't know. We'll just have to go and find out. Quickly now."

Forty minutes left.

* * *

The first wall that they crashed through was peculiarly satisfying. Even Ino, who was a wreck, was impressed as Chouji ploughed through the wall. Sakura had to admit that it was impressive.

Terrifying, but impressive.

"Come on," Sakura urged Ino as they heard the ominous rumbling of the wall around them. "Let's stick close to Chouji."

"I have a bad feeling about this," Ino mumbled as Sakura gave up on making Ino move on her own and simply began tugging her along.

"Pig," Sakura said, "you've got a bad feeling about everything down here. I'll admit that this isn't the most subtle of plans- it is pretty much the opposite of that, in fact- but we need to do something to get out of here quickly."

It was hard for her to focus. She remembered fuzzily that they had a deadline, but Sakura couldn't remember how much time they had. That was a bad sign she knew. She'd been so caught up in glaring at the Oto team and everything that they represented to her that she'd lost track of what was going on with the exam.

Luck, Sakura knew grimly, was the only thing keeping them alive between her preoccupation and Ino's freezing up in the darkness. Chouji was the only one of them who was functioning at one hundred percent.

_I never would have thought that he could, six months ago._

It was an ugly thought, Sakura admitted, as she scrambled up the wall, still dragging Ino with her as they made their way by feel and sound towards the hole that Chouji had smashed through the wall. All around them rocks fell and dust began to rise. Her eyes watered and Sakura told them, futilely to cut it out.

"Come on," she said, "or I'm going to slap you."

That got Ino's attention. "You would _not_."

Sakura smiled faintly. There was no way that Ino would be able to see it in this total darkness and it suited her mood. "I would," she said, "you're the one that told me to put things away so we can get through this exam. You going back on your word now?"

She could feel the way Ino was shaking. It wasn't a fair question at all. The rational part of Sakura knew that. It was cruel to tell Ino that the way she was acting was the same thing as what she'd been doing. Revenge versus fear, Sakura thought, weren't the same at all. If Ino had been thinking clearly then Sakura knew that she'd have paid dearly for that comment.

But as it was...

Ino jerked her arm free and scrambled ahead of her. "I don't have to listen to this," Ino hissed as they used chakra to support themselves while picking their way around rubble.

Ahead of them, Sakura could hear the sounds of Chouji knocking down another wall. He trusted them to follow him. That meant that they had to keep up. It would be too easy in here for someone to decide to eliminate him while he was on his own.

"Yes you do," Sakura said, keeping up with Ino easily. Ino was stumbling more than she was walking and Sakura ached with the urge to help her friend out. She didn't because she knew Ino and knew that Ino would attempt to murder her for trying to do so. "We need you, Ino."

Ino laughed darkly. The sound was so bitter that it twisted Sakura's stomach. "I can't handle this," Ino said. "I feel like I'm dying in here. I _want_to die if my alternative is being stuck down here."

They darted across an open tunnel and up to the next hole. The dust was growing worse and Sakura was sure that when they got out of here, they were going to look like a total mess. That didn't really matter, she thought, and then had to marvel at what a difference a year had made.

A year ago, she'd have been horrified to be down here and then having to go out in public.

Now all that mattered was getting out of here.

"You can handle this," Sakura said firmly. Ino's problems took precedence over the fact that somewhere down here were the Oto nin. "You're not alone this time and the darkness isn't endless. We have a destination. We have somewhere to _go_."

She didn't say that the fatalism in Ino's voice scared her. Sakura ignored the way her heart pounded in her chest and cursed everything that existed for the fact that no one had realized that Ino had left her last mission with a new phobia.

_We could have done something about it before getting here if we'd known!_her thoughts raged and yet she knew there was nothing that they could do now. Nothing but go on. The entire tunnel wavered alarmingly.

"What's going on?" Ino asked, her voice high and terrified in a way that Sakura couldn't remember ever hearing before. It wasn't like Ino. Ino wasn't supposed to be gut-wrenchingly scared.

"It's the tunnel," Sakura said. She closed her eyes. "It's starting to fall down."

Ino moaned.

Sakura grabbed her hand. "Come on," she said, cursing herself for an idiot. They'd caused this, in their haste to get out of here no matter the cost. _We're going to find out the cost,_Sakura thought. "We need to get to Chouji and tell him to stop."

Sakura didn't know if it was desperation or Ino coming to her senses but this time, Ino managed to keep her feet and keep up with Sakura as they picked up pace, flinging themselves with reckless abandon through falling rocks and grit and narrowing missing getting hit by chunks of the ceiling. Some of the holes were so caved in that they had to squeeze though them carefully and it was a good thing that they were so thin. Even so, their hands got scraped and sore and Sakura didn't know how Ino felt, but she was feeling utterly wretched.

How many tunnels ahead had Chouji gone while they'd struggled with fears?

Sakura lost count as she and Ino made their way, all by feel and sense and more than a dash of good luck. The only good thing, Sakura knew, was that other Genin had disappeared from the tunnels. No one wanted to be in here while it fell down around them. Everyone would've moved to safer, saner, areas to be.

That would only make the fighting more intense where they all wound up, Sakura knew. That meant they had to find their tunnel as soon as possible. Already she could hear above them as the tunnels began breaking down further and further away as having their support undermined in one location weakened the rest of the structure.

_That's what we forgot,_ Sakura thought. _When we decided that this would be a good idea._

The tunnels that they'd knocked down: all of those needed support from the bottom.

When they got out of here, Sakura thought, she was going to smack herself hard. If they didn't make it out, they almost deserved it. She didn't say that thought. The last thing she needed was to push Ino off the cliff of her precarious calm.

And it hadn't been Ino's idea anyway, Sakura admitted grimly. It had been her and Chouji and they'd fucked this up. It should have been obvious that knocking out what they entire underground area they were in rested on was a poor idea. _We panicked,_ Sakura thought. _We shouldn't have. Not if we want to be made Chuunin._

So far, this exam was not filling her with hope about their competence.

Though, she consoled herself, they couldn't have predicted that the entirety of the underground was so fragile that taking out a few walls would destroy it all.

_If we get out of here,_ she thought, _we're going to train so that we never make a misjudgment like this ever again. And Ino is going to get help for her fear of darkness if I have to drag her in by her hair._

She could hear Chouji now, just ahead of them. "Chouji!" she shouted, risking the volume because if she didn't shout, Sakura highly doubted that he'd be able to hear her at all. "_Chouji!_ Stop! _Don't knock down another wall!_"

He hit the wall hard and the whole area around them shuddered horrifically. Sakura almost thought that this was going to give her nightmares as well. She no longer wondered at the problems that Ino was having getting used to this sort of thing all over again.

"Pig," she hissed, coughing around the dust as Chouji began spinning again-he clearly hadn't heard her. "You've got to say something. I don't think- I don't think he's going to hear me."

It wasn't just a volume thing, Sakura thought grimly. It was a team thing. Chouji had been working with Ino for over a year and he'd been friends with her for longer. Her voice had a better chance of getting through whatever concentration he'd put himself into than hers had.

_That's another problem,_ she thought. _I'm just a guest on this team no matter what we say._

Sakura wished for her team, desperately, for a moment before forcing herself to concentrate on the important things: like getting out of here alive.

"_Ino_," she said driven by panic, "_start talking to him right the fuck now._"

Ino drew a shuddering breath and shrieked, "_CHOUJI! STOP!_"

There was silence all around them for a long moment, like even the rocks were scared to move in the face of that shout, and then Chouji began to shrink back down to his usual size, sliding down the wall-which Sakura suspected bore several dents despite the fact he'd not broken through the wall yet-and getting to his feet.

"Ino?" he said, bewildered.

Ino didn't answer. Sakura strongly suspected, from the sniffles, that Ino had started crying and was trying to hide it. Sakura squeezed Ino's arm comfortingly and coughed again.

"We're morons," Sakura said flatly, to Chouji, as he came nearer. "We need to get out of here-"

"That's what I was doing-"

"-_without _knocking down any more walls," Sakura finished grimly. "Or we're all going to die."

Thirty-five minutes left.

* * *

While the blonde girl-who was scared of the dark, Sayuri reminded herself with a snort-shrieked for her teammate to stop knocking down walls, Sayuri privately admitted to herself that she was all for an end to the shaking and collapsing of the tunnels. It was even worse for them. They had to follow the team and do it without being detected while at the same time refraining from becoming mush.

Come to think of it, she thought, she had to admit that she wasn't that fond of the dark at the moment either. It was tempting to light up a glow stick or even figure out which of them was carrying the portable lantern and light that, just for a change and because it was more than a little distressing to feel like the world was ending around them and not being able to see anything.

She could only just barely sense the chakra signatures ahead of them. Those of Inori and Hideki were comforting and she took solace in that.

"So," she said, under the cover of more rubble falling. "What do we do now? We've determined that they are utter morons."

"To be fair," Inori commented, like he was talking about nothing more serious than the weather, "they're not exactly expected to have a good grasp of rock. They don't live with it. I bet they know how to get through a forest better than we do."

Hideki snorted. "If you love them so much," he said, "why don't you go kiss up to them. I'm sure they'd be thrilled."

Sayuri stifled the urge to giggle. It wasn't very appropriate and it might just give Hideki the idea that she thought they were doing something that was acceptable at the moment. "Seriously now," she said, before Inori could retort. "We need to leave. I want to leave. At this point, if they pull down everything on them, I don't even care. I just want to be out of their reach. I saw at least three teams get crushed."

Even now, though she was trying her hardest to ignore them, she could hear screams in the distance that had nothing whatsoever to do with fighting. Sayuri felt sick at the thought. Dying in battle was one thing. Dying by accident...?

It gave her the creeps. Had Tsubaki made it out?

"I agree," Hideki said. "I don't want to become crushed team number four. Besides, if we fail then it's just going to be Tsubaki and her team who get to advance."

"Ugh," she muttered. "Don't remind me. They've probably already made it out." She hoped.

"They probably didn't spend most of their time stalking the idiots who've ruining this testing area," Inori pointed out, a little sharply. "And we've got some idea of what they can do. They're not a real team, you heard that. Why else would the blonde have to do the shouting before the guy stopped?"

"He's got serious power." Hideki sounded approving. "And that girl has serious lungs."

"And serious issues," Sayuri muttered. "But no, you're right. We know that. I'm just not sure what we can do with that knowledge. It's not exactly the most useful thing to know."

She felt rather than saw or heard Inori shrug. "That's not for us to figure out," he said. "That's for our sensei to decide. We just report. We've already shown plenty of initiative in following them even this far."

"Right." Sayuri breathed deeply, trying not to cough on the dust, and listened hard for the other team. "That means, as of now, I am declaring that this is now a 'we don't give a damn about the Konoha team zone'."

"Which means?"

Hideki _would_ have the nerve to sound amused, she thought peevishly. "You know what it means," she said briskly. "It means we're getting the fuck out of here. As anyone kept track of what tunnel we're at?"

She hadn't been and Sayuri knew that under other circumstances she might have been angry with herself for that lapse. In this situation, she was of the opinion that living so far was a pretty great accomplishment and so felt almost defiant in the face of not knowing which tunnel they were in. The silence that answered her told Sayuri that she wasn't the only one who'd lost track of it.

"Okay," she said calmly. "First order of business is figure out this tunnel and then we get to where we're going as fast as possible. I don't know about you, but can you hear what's still going on?"

They were all silent for a few moments.

"I'm going to say that, honestly, it sounds a lot like 'we're all going to die'," Inori said dryly. "I mean, between the crashing and the rumbling and the fact that it is getting increasingly hard to breathe in our current location and it is probably luck alone that means we having been killed by falling rocks so far."

"So cheerful," Hideki muttered. "But for all of that, I happen to agree with Mr. Pessimist. They've learnt enough to stop knocking down walls. But I don't think the walls want to stop by this point."

Sayuri squinted up into the darkness. She couldn't see anything but it was an automatic reaction. She studied nothing and felt her heart beat heavily in her chest. "Yeah," she said softly, "that's what I'm hearing too. I hope like hell that they haven't undermined things so badly that the village is going to be affected."

"If they are, we'll kill them," Inori said, with the same casualness that he'd used while talking earlier. He could say anything from 'I'll have cereal for breakfast' to 'I hope you tortured her according to the proper protocols' in the same tone of voice. "No one fucks over our village that badly and does so entirely by accident."

"The worst part," Sayuri said, "is that it really and clearly wasn't something maliciously done."

It would make it easier to hate them if they'd done it on purpose. Instead, she just felt tired at the thought of it. They were idiots, that was it. That was the end of the story and yet they were stuck to deal with them for however long they survived in the exam. She tried to remember what they'd been briefed about the team before the exam.

How had they done on the last one?

Clearly they were thought to have some talent, she thought, or their Hokage wouldn't have sent them out here.

It was just that, as far as Sayuri saw it, they weren't exhibiting it. The voice that always sounded like Tsubaki-always more reasonable, more measured, more collected-murmured about how they were out of their element and at least one of them was severely off their game.

Two of them, Sayuri remembered, thinking about the way that the pink-haired girl had glowered so viciously at the team from Oto. That meant something too.

Another thundering noise, like the world was moaning, made their position shudder sickly. Or maybe that was just her stomach, she thought.

"Move," she said, "quickly. Clarify the number and let's _go_."

They scattered, using each other's familiarity with their chakra to keep track of each other and searched the tunnel that was falling down around them for the number they were in. It was Inori's voice that called out after an interminable, horrible, five minutes spent feverishly searching for a number that for all they knew could be crushed.

"Eleven!" he called, with no attention for subtlety.

Sayuri didn't have the heart to scold him for that. She didn't blame him. She wanted to just get out of here and that was worth shouting any day. Besides, she thought, there was no one in here to hear them. No one but the dying.

We won't be joining them, she thought hurriedly. We won't be.

"Good," Sayuri called back, then had to break off to cough unpleasantly. By the time that she recovered from her fit, Inori and Hideki were by her and murmuring something that she couldn't quite make out. She gasped and wiped at her watering eyes.

"We're going," Hideki said and she knew that they'd been talking about it without her. She couldn't even blame them for it though it was tempting. "Now. I don't care about keep up to any team now. I just want us to live."

"No argument," Sayuri croaked as the ceiling overhead rumbled ominously.

"Seriously. Let's just... go."

They went, and Sayuri was ashamed to admit that she needed their help on occasion but she asked for it-she couldn't breathe right and her balance was off in the darkness. "It's got," she said weakly, around another coughing fit, "to be some sort of allergy. If it was poison, both of you would be effected too."

And there was no one in the area to poison them. How many idiots were there to linger in what was a death trap that was steadily growing? Not only was their deadline spinning down-how many minutes did they have left?-but with the place falling down around their ears... the time for fighting had passed, Sayuri thought, and the time for survival had come.

Every team would be doing whatever was in their power to get out of here. Which meant, she thought, stumbling through another hacking cough, that they weren't going to be here.

Inori wrapped his arm around her waist, half dragging her, and she couldn't get control of herself long enough to stop him. She didn't even try. It was for the entire team's good if they got out of here as quickly as possible. They could deal with her allergy outbreak later.

Sayuri concentrated on trying to breathe and left the navigating the darkness to her teammates. She hated it, loathed it, but let it happen.

Just concentrate on living, she told herself, and everything else will follow after.

It was funny, she thought, how much that sounded like something that Tsubaki would say to her. Sayuri took peculiar comfort from that. She never got along with her sister but she knew in her bones that Tsubaki would never just let her die.

Her sister wouldn't steer her wrong.

"Found it," Hideki said, with a sigh that had a sharp edge to it. Sayuri had no idea how many tunnels they'd made their way through. Her consciousness was a fuzzy dim thing as she forced herself to keep to her feet and knew that the only reason she was managing that was because of Inori's support. "Thank fuck."

Twenty-two minutes left.

* * *

Sakura's voice felt muffled to her and it echoed weirdly in her ears as she stood with her hand gripping Ino's tightly and watched Chouji as he looked for the way through. She should be doing something else, she supposed, even if it was just to say something to Ino, who'd gone as silent as a grave a while back, not even making the sound of sniffling.

In retrospect, Sakura rather thought she preferred the sniffling.

"There's no way through," she said flatly. "We have no light, no way of really getting any, and we're four tunnels from our goal and the whole wall has collapsed."

Ino didn't react.

Chouji heaved a sigh that sounded as heavy as the rock that surrounded them. Sakura supposed they should count themselves lucky that they were even _breathing_ at the moment.

She didn't feel very lucky.

"What do you want me to do, Sakura?" Chouji asked, and she flushed at the implied scrutiny in his voice.

He meant 'do you want me to do what you're doing, which is absolutely nothing' and the worst part was, she couldn't even blame him. She wasn't doing anything.

"We don't even know if we've got time left on the clock," she said instead of admitting that. "And if we don't, there's no point in trying any way. You really think they'll leave us down here to die? In Konoha, we had Jounin and ANBU watchers shadowing every team."

"We're not in Konoha." Ino's voice, unexpected and welcome, broke in. She sounded hollow. "And there's no guarantee we're going to be rescued even if there are watchers. Why should they waste the energy when a lot of teams have already died down here? They're probably going to just say that any team that didn't make it out of here died in the collapse and good riddance to them and tell their Jounin sensei to get lost for daring to show up to an exam like this with such a crappy set of teams."

Sakura felt like she was going to be ill at the picture that painted even as she felt her spirits rose. Ino was talking. That was _something_ good. Even if, Sakura thought, she sounded like she'd rather be dead than alive. It was something.

"That doesn't matter," Sakura said, because she had to say that, couldn't just stand the idea of letting Ino get away with a thought like that. Not in here. Maybe not even ever. "We can get out."

"We can," Chouji said and Sakura felt her heart stop as she whipped her head towards the sound of his voice. She wished desperately that they could see one another and shelved that wish as one that wasn't going to come true.

"We can?" Ino asked, her voice fragile.

"We can," he repeated, in such a gentle voice that Sakura didn't think she'd ever heard gentler. She wasn't the only one who was aware of just how precarious and precious it was to have Ino functioning even as much as she was.

They shouldn't have gone to the exam, Sakura thought, not with weaknesses like this. They should have dealt with them.

Could've, should've, _didn't_.

Which, she reminded herself sharply, didn't change the fact that they _had_ gone forward with their weaknesses. Ino should have dealt with her fears, Chouji should have been given more time to prepare and recover from his ordeal, and she...

She had to do something with her hatred. Even now, knowing that it was a horrible and futile thing to indulge, she could feel her pulse speed up at the thought of them going after the Oto nin. It made her want to tremble with dreadful eagerness to try and rip them apart, the way their leader had ripped through her team's delicate bonds and shattered them.

But she was in the dark and it was her and Ino and Chouji and Ino was barely functioning. In retrospect, knocking down walls had been a bad idea in more ways than just the property destruction. Ino had functioned better before everything had started falling down on top of them.

Sakura knew the consequences of not dealing with things. Right now, they were being amply demonstrated to her.

"How?" she asked, when it became clear that Chouji was waiting for Ino to ask that very question and that Ino wasn't capable of asking it. Just the fact that they _could _get out of here had, Sakura realized belatedly, set up a fine trembling in Ino's arm. Sakura squeezed a little tighter.

"The tunnels beyond this point seem, for the moment, to be unblocked," Chouji said, and she noted the way he didn't promise that they would stay unblocked. They had no certainties down here and they couldn't afford to pretend they did. "That means it's just this wall to get through and we'd have a reasonably clear path to the nearest tunnel our numbers correspond to."

"There's problems," Ino said abruptly, still in that awful, hollow voice. "Or you would have done it."  
Sakura imagined that Chouji was wincing. Ino was blunt enough when she wanted to be. Now, when everything else was stripped away from her, it was almost unbearable.

Chouji didn't disagree with her. "Yes," he said heavily, "there's problems."

"What are they?" Sakura asked, then doubled over as a coughing fit hit her.

She wheezed, barely able to hear anything over the sounds of her body and the way that she knew that if they stayed down here, it would only get worse. Ino's hand in hers shifted and Sakura flinched as what felt like ice water flooded her body, her chakra systems, and eased the constricted passageways.

It was over in a few seconds and she looked up, face wet, still shaking from the abrupt way her situation had been dealt with.

"I didn't know," she said, her voice sounding rough to her ears. "I didn't know that Shizune-sensei taught you that."

"It's for choking," Ino said dispassionately. "I thought it would be useful in this case."

"It worked," Sakura told her. It had, though she was going to feel in equal amounts cold and shivery for the next while. It hadn't been so much a jutsu, Sakura thought, as a very specific way of feeding chakra through another person's system in a split second and knowing how to weave through her chakra coils without rousing discomfort on that level while administering a physical shock to the body.

Sakura shivered.

She wasn't sure she would have done it. Not for a cough. It was too dangerous.

But it had worked and Ino had done it. She wondered exactly what Shizune-sensei had taught Ino in her lessons. Sakura knew hers had differed but... how much had they? Sakura didn't know if she _could _at this point in her training do something so quickly and effectively to fix a cough.

_Which makes sense,_ she thought. _Ino is field medicine, I'm going for full medic. Tsunade-shishou warned me about this. That there would be things that Ino would learn that I'd be learning later in my studies due to the differences in our focuses. _

"Thanks," she said, realizing that she needed to say it. Something, a tension, slid out of Ino's hand. Sakura wondered if Ino had been worried about how she'd react to it. "I appreciate it."

"Right," Chouji said, "so do I. Good work, Ino."

He didn't sound like he was complimenting Ino on something that he barely had to understand what had happened, Sakura thought with a bit of admiration. Just that he knew she'd done good and thought it had to be acknowledged.

"What are the problems?" Ino asked, her voice quiet.

"It's this," he said, "if we knock down this wall, _everything _is going to come down. We're going to have to run for it and hope we can make it because there's not going to be anything we can do if we get this wall down. Nothing will stop it. We don't know any jutsu to keep from collapsing it around our ears so we can take the time to get our footing."

Sakura bit her lip. In all honesty, when faced with that as an option, she was very tempted to just give up and hope that someone came to find them. Surely they would test for living chakra signatures down here-surely Ino's dreadful prediction couldn't be the right one.

Ino tugged at her hand and Sakura let go of it, feeling oddly bereft. Ino left her standing there and by the sounds of it, was making her way over to where Chouji was.

"Oof," he said, a moment later, "don't trip over me, Ino. What do you need?"

"Show me," she said, "what you saw when you checked the rock."

There was silence for a long moment while Sakura tried to figure out how that was even possible. She felt left out as they talked, their words rushing over her, and felt an ache for her team like a sickness. Chouji and Ino were both friends and she was very glad to have them. But they weren't her team.  
Her team didn't exist any longer.

"Alright," Chouji said dubiously. "Are you sure you can do that? Every time you've done that jutsu before it's been a full possession and that's not going to help you see if you don't know the jutsu."

"I can do it," Ino said quietly. "It's something Dad and I have been working on."

Sakura clenched her hands. That meant, she thought, that it had to be something that was covered under the Clan Confidential. There were times when she hated it-there was no way that she, who wasn't of any ninja line, who had no history as a shinobi, could be privy to anything that was covered by it. She supposed that technically, she wasn't even supposed to be able to hear this conversation.

Ino didn't seem to care, she realized, and Chouji, if he did, said nothing.

Perhaps he didn't want to risk it, Sakura thought, with the state Ino was in. They had no way of knowing if a question would slide her back into her useless state.

"I trust you," Chouji said with such simple sincerity that Sakura felt a lump rise in her throat. "Go ahead, Ino."

And Ino murmured the jutsu she'd lost with in the last Chuunin exam. Shintenshin no jutsu, Sakura realized, the full possession jutsu. Then how…? Even as she thought that, she moved, catching Ino's body against her before it could hit the ground.

Chouji paid her no mind. He moved slowly and deliberately and from the range of motion, she suspected that he was doing a jutsu though he didn't say it out loud. The silence in the tunnel quickly grew unbearable. Sakura found herself clenching her teeth to keep from feeling more freaked out than she did.

And then, it was over.

Ino stirred feebly. Chouji leaned his head against the stone.

"What's the verdict?" Sakura asked.

It was Chouji who answered her as Ino got to her feet and wobbled there. "We can do it," he said, "but we're going to need your help, Sakura. You've got the best control out of the three of us."

"Anything you need," Sakura said. "I'll do it."

Ino murmured a jutsu under her breath and the area flared pink with pale light. Sakura averted her eyes, determined to avoid getting caught in the light of that jutsu, and met Chouji's determinedly.

"How quickly can you learn a new jutsu?" he asked.

Sakura glanced at her watch. Her heart pounded. They had eighteen minutes to the deadline.

"As fast as you need me to," she said, with a pointed look at the time. "We're not out of the running yet."

All of a sudden, she felt like laughing.

"Ino," Chouji said, "keep time." He looked at Sakura steadily. "You've got ten minutes. We'll need the rest for travel time."

Sakura nodded. "Show me what you need."

Eighteen minutes left.

* * *

_Don't complain,_ Sana had said. _This exam is a bloodbath._

She'd been right, Haruki thought, the smell of blood obliterating everything else.

Not that he was going to tell her that. She already knew and if he admitted it she'd get smug. Which wasn't without reason, because Sana _was_ every bit as good as she thought she was, but all the same.

It's not good for her to hear it all the time, he thought. I am being a good teammate by saying nothing about it.

He couldn't see but that was all right-none of them could see and this was a war waged by sensing chakra only. Kozue, the lucky bastard, had an advantage over them in this area.

Haruki eyed the flickering pattern of chakra in front of him. It was unfamiliar, which meant it was an enemy.

_That's all right, about Kozue,_ Haruki thought as he ducked and spun and then lashed out with a blade as dark as night. It sliced through fabric and skin and abruptly the smell of blood and worse got stronger around him. _I'm still accounting for more kills than he is._

Of course, that was likely because Kozue was up somewhere on the wall, firing off darts that left the enemy helpless and unmoving. Permanent paralysis in a single dose.

_I will never forgive him if he gets me. _

The Genin he'd hit was still in the battle though and for the moment Haruki stuffed those thoughts away and sat on them. Fighting first, thinking later. He spun out of reach of the other Genin, having to guess the distance and hoping that the Genin didn't have a sword the way he did.

He didn't. The whistling sound of kunai and shuriken sounded in his ears as they flew by. One glanced off his pants but he didn't feel the accompanying sting that would say it had cut him. Haruki, still moving, running to the side and a few feet up the wall in the space of a heartbeat, slid one gloved hand down his leg until he could wrestle the kunai out of his pants.

It was tempting to discard it. He tucked it away into a pocket built especially for claiming enemy weapons instead and, with a yell of sheer exuberance, he darted forward again, blade weaving and slashing at his foe.

His blood thrummed in his veins. Distantly he could see the flickers of Sana 's chakra as she took on her own foe.

The hum of Kozue's darts played counterpoint to the rushing in his ears and Haruki knew that he was grinning wildly. This was what he loved. Let Sana have her puzzles and her skills and he'd take the death.

What he didn't get, as he forced the Genin back one step and then another, nicking and slicing at the Genin piecemeal, playing with his target and enjoying it, was why the Genin had thought it would be a good idea to team up in the dark.

Kozue had found them and while Sana had hemmed over the decision, Haruki was proud that she'd made what he considered the right one. All they'd had to do was fake that they were willing to join an alliance with the other Genin-who'd been card swapping to get the right numbers-and then...

Sana had given him the go ahead in the form of a quick press of fingers to his wrist.

One dead Genin and all of them had turned on each other, unable to tell friend from foe in the dark and unable to figure out which Genin had died and who'd been the one to kill them.

Haruki smiled grimly. He got the point of this exam. It was for reconnaissance: could you get your team through an unknown and dangerous territory without dying and with the correct information at the end of it.

It was also for loyalty.

How well did you know your teammates when there was nothing to know them by?

Most of these teams, he thought, failed. _Be we don't and we won't._

Sana was right about that too.

Haruki, tired of this Genin, who was slowing down and obviously on their last legs, spun and loped off the Genin's head. The body collapsed, blood oozing over the ground, as the head hit the ground with a hallow thump.

As empty as his ability, Haruki thought scornfully. He slipped through the battlefield, footing steady despite the blood and worse that was splashed all over the ground if he went by the squishing beneath his sandals.

He spotted Sana 's chakra as she flung herself into the air. A second later, her target screamed in agony.

_Nice_, Haruki thought and took himself off to other areas of the tunnel. Sana hardly needed anyone to look after her.

He found another fight five yards away. Two Genin were battling it out, their voices distorted. Haruki thought about letting them get to it and then picking off the other once they'd finished off their opponent. It wouldn't be long now, one of them was clearly weakening by the look of their chakra.

The prudent thing to do would be to wait.

_But that's no fun,_Haruki thought and moved.

Another thump-and-thunk and another head rolled. The remaining Genin spun to look in his direction.

"I thought," Haruki purred, "that you could use a more challenging opponent."

The Genin's voice was as throaty with pleasure as his was. "If you think you can handle it," she said. "Then let's go."

Their blades clashed in the darkness and Haruki felt like everything was right in his world. His focus narrowed down to nothing but the blades and the movement of his opponent's chakra as they struggled to get one over the other.

They chased each other over the course of the tunnel. Once she killed another Genin who got in their way, another time he did the same.

He didn't know who he killed, except that it wasn't Sana (who he could still sense) or Kozue (whose darts still hummed, though less frequently now as more and more Genin died). He didn't know if the girl had killed her own teammates or if he'd killed them.

She certainly didn't seem to care about anything other than their fight.

Haruki felt the same way as they ducked and parried and spun, tangling their blades up in one another's.

It could have gone on forever. Haruki was pleased even as sweat beaded down his neck, his face, down his back. Sweat meant he was working hard. The Genin, who ever she was, was a good match for him. Her breathing was as heavy as his was.

He was almost tempted to leave her alive so they could face each other again.

Of course, he thought, ducking under a slash of hers and following that up with a vicious undercut of his own, that would imply that he thought he was going to get out of here alive.

Which, he thought contentedly, wasn't assured against this opponent.

_I love this exam._

The girl gave a shriek and collapsed like a puppet with her strings cut. Haruki stopped mid-blow and took a step back, breathing heavily. That hadn't been him, he knew.

Now that he wasn't in the midst of a fight, he realized that the area was silent. If there were other Genin around, they'd disappeared.

Or died.

"Kozue," he shouted, "you bastard! She was mine!"

"Shut up," Sana said, her chakra showing him as she knelt down and slit the girl's throat. "We've got twenty minutes left. We can't afford to spend more time in here."

Haruki made a strangled noise. "But we were-"

"You'll find another one to love," she said, without turning a hair. "But we've got to _go_. And before you get mad at Kozue, he did it on my orders."

The rational part of him knew she was speaking good sense. They had to pass this exam and now that the competition was severely winnowed through they'd have their pick of cards and be able to go and check out almost any door they wanted to.

Twenty minutes left.

He felt bitterness sour in his throat.

"You've killed everyone else Kozue's paralyzed, haven't you?" he asked, swallowing the anger at the loss of his opponent. Sana was right, damn it, even though he wished she wasn't.

He couldn't see the look she gave him but he could imagine it. "Obviously," Sana said, "and it was a mercy killing for them. What sort of life would they lead as shinobi who can't even move?"

Haruki shuddered and didn't disagree with her. If he'd been placed in that position... yes, he'd want to die too.

"I wish I could've killed her," he said mournfully as he wiped his blade off on his opponent's clothes. "Did you see how good she was?"

"She was pretty good," Sana admitted, shaking out a glow stick. It turned the area surreal and made the gore they were surrounded by even more macabre. "But numbers first. We can admire her later."

Haruki sighed and sheathed his sword then knelt down to find the card number his opponent would have had. It only took a few moments and then he and Sana headed for the next body.

Then the next and the next, picking up new numbers all the while.

"Kozue is keeping watch?" he asked, after the seventh number. Seventh body.

"The light gives us away," Sana said, looking otherworldly in the pale light of the glow stick as she bent and coolly searched the eighth corpse. "It's prudent to have one of us up on watch and getting past Kozue will take some doing."

Haruki shrugged and didn't disagree. He wouldn't want to slip past him. "He's got all his darts?"

"Mm," she said. "They're new ones. Come back through his chakra stream."

Haruki tried to figure out how that would work and gave it up as a bad idea. Ow. "Lucky him," he said, then added, "doesn't that hurt?"

A faint smile touched Sana 's face. "I wouldn't want to deal with it, but it seems to get along pretty well with him."

They fell silent until they'd gathered the rest of the numbers. Fourteen of them in all, Haruki thought, as they studied their haul. Their team hadn't accounted for all of the dead-and the fifteenth's number was missing so they didn't have a full set of all those who'd died-but they'd been the last ones standing.

_And everyone knows that those are the ones who win,_ he thought as Sana called Kozue down, their winning numbers in hand. Their door was right around the corner.

They'd passed this one.

As they headed for the door, Haruki cast a glance back at where the girl he'd fought rested. He lifted his hand in farewell and then moved to keep up with Sana and Kozue.

It was a shame, but his team had won.

Ten minutes left.

* * *

If nothing else, her last six months had shown Sakura just how much her chakra stores had grown. She knew in her bones that if she'd tried to do this before she wouldn't have been able to-not even if she'd been rested beforehand.

Now, in the dark, having tried it several times and fumbling through the seals with each minute ticking down to something horrible, Sakura felt a quiet sense of confidence despite everything.

I _can_do this, she thought, running the seals through her head one more time and inspecting her mental mock-up of what the jutsu was supposed to do before taking a deep breath and giving it one more test try.

She didn't need to check a clock to know that her ten minutes were almost up. That was evident in the strain of Chouji's voice.

Sakura spared a second to worry about Ino, who'd said the minutes left, every minute, and nothing else since started training, and then forced her mind back on learning the jutsu. If she didn't get it, then they would be stuck down here.

They had no idea if rescue would happen.

That meant getting out of here rested on her shoulders.

Drawing her chakra tight and tense under her skin she concentrated as her hands flew through the seals, this time, without stumbling, as she murmured the jutsu's name. Sakura felt it click into place and smiled even as Chouji clapped her shoulder.

"Good," he said, "well done."

It was funny, she thought, how warm that made her feel.

"Can you do it again?" he asked. "On your existing stores?"

Sakura licked her lips and considered what was left of her chakra for a moment then nodded. "I won't be good for much after," she said, "if we have another exam back-to-back with this one, I'll need a soldier pill. But for now... no. I'll be able to manage."

He took her at her word. "Alright," Chouji said, "Ino, we're going. Don't forget that we're going to have to run."

Sakura found herself waiting for Ino's standard snark to that sort of stating the obvious and was disappointed when it didn't happen. She breathed in and out and thought about that and then tucked it away. She couldn't afford the distraction right now.

"Ino," she said, "we're all here and we're getting out."

It was the only comfort she could offer Ino.

Chouji shifted and she suspected that he'd gone to grab hold of Ino's hand the way that she'd done earlier. To keep track of her, Sakura thought, to make sure that all three of us get out of here.

If they didn't all make it, then they all failed. They knew that too.

"Sakura."

She nodded, even though he couldn't see it.

"I'm ready," she said, straightening her shoulders and giving the wall in front of her a determined look. That she couldn't see it didn't matter-she could feel it and the wall was like a looming shadow on her thoughts.

But that was alright, the jutsu that Chouji had taught her wanted to encourage that perception. She breathed in and out and then began the jutsu for real this time, dredging up her chakra and spreading it through the jutsu more thoroughly than she'd done for the tests to see if she had it down pat.

This time, when she finished her seals, she pressed her hands to the wall and _pushed_.

The wall shivered, feeling malleable all of a sudden, and Sakura gathered up her courage and moved forward. Her foot hit the wall first. Hit it and sunk through it to rest on the ground. Then her body and then she kept going.

It wasn't dark inside the wall.

But that was because, with the jutsu draining her chakra, it wasn't exactly a wall.

We are light in the shadows, Sakura thought, and that it how we're getting through this wall. A shadow can't stop the light from passing through.

If she thought too hard about it, her skin began to crawl. Hurriedly, Sakura forced more chakra into her jutsu, to keep the wall a shadow as far as they were concerned, and kept walking.

Behind her, she could hear Chouji and Ino. Chouji was murmuring something and Ino was talking back, her voice inaudible to Sakura.

Despite that, she felt cheered. If Ino was talking to someone, even if that someone was not her, that meant Ino was thinking at least a little.

The walk wasn't long, as how distance was measured through the rock. They only had to make their way through one wall and then they would be out in another tunnel.

The walk through the shadow felt a lot longer and Sakura kept moving, knowing that they didn't have long and that if they slowed down while in here there was not a chance that they'd be able to get out if she lost control of the jutsu.

And in here, there was no way to take a solider pill. Even if she ate it, it would destroy the jutsu she had active with the sudden surge of uncontrollable chakra the pill would give her.

She had to just keep on going, the way she'd told Chouji she could. Sakura wrapped his faith around her like a shield-he'd not even questioned her ability to handle this, despite the fact that she'd barely learnt the jutsu and the fact that if it failed, they were all dead-and kept walking.

Every step got harder and every breath came slower but her pace remained the same and so did the steady drain of her energy. She gritted her teeth and pressed on.

If you stop here, she reminded herself ruthlessly, then all of you will be killed instantly when the shadow turns back into stone. You will be trapped in the stone and you will die.

You can't let that happen.

So don't.

It felt like an age, an eternity, and then all of a sudden she stepped out onto solid rock and felt air against her skin instead of the clingy shadow-rock. Sakura took a few steps to the side, careful not to get too far from the wall, and then pressed her hands to it.

Her chakra, a tired thing now, still kept draining. She was free and Sakura knew that if all else failed, there were ways for her to get out.

But her team was still in the rock and she had to maintain the jutsu just a little longer.

She closed her eyes, knowing that if someone else attacked-and who would when everyone down here was either dead or trapped or had passed the exam?-then she was dead anyway and focused everything she had on the jutsu.

A minute later, by her count, Chouji slowly pulled from the rock. His chakra was a solid press that she found soothing. With him came Ino, whose chakra danced around her like a lightning storm, showing off her unease with the entire situation.

As soon as they were both clear of the rock wall, Sakura dropped the jutsu. The tiny bit of chakra she could reclaim let her keep herself from falling over in a faint.

She felt _awful_ but she was alive and all of them had just walked through a wall made of solid rock.

"Sakura," Chouji said, "are you alright? We've got to run."

"I'm okay," she said, taking one careful step and then another.

Ino's hand, smaller and colder and tighter than Chouji's grabbed her wrist. Sakura drew her breath to ask what Ino wanted when Ino's chakra flooded through her system like a breath of frigid air.

Sakura shuddered at the energy rush. Ino was abusing a number of principals, Sakura thought, unable to pull away, and somehow-somehow it was working.

Ino dropped her hand and Sakura found that she didn't feel quite as tired. Her chakra was still dangerously low but... but she felt better.

"What was that?" Sakura asked.

"There's no time for explanations," Chouji interrupted. "We've got five minutes."

Sakura felt, as they started moving, not quite running, but going as fast as they dared in the darkness, with uncertain footing, that their walk through the shadow wall should have taken only three minutes. It had felt much, much longer.

And yet, she scolded, if it had taken longer, we would have lost by default in this exam and so-so stop thinking things that are cursing us.

As a result, she smiled faintly as they made their way through the tunnels. Sakura was following the walls with her hands and she was relying on Chouji and his earth sense to keep them on target. They had to get past four tunnels in five minutes.

No one but them existed in the dark, silent world. The screams from earlier were either cut off or... or could no longer go on, and Sakura swallowed hard as they clambered over rock and hoped that they weren't making their way over the bodies of other Genin. She couldn't tell if they were.

Any scent that would have come from blood and death was so prevalent in the tunnels and coated with dirt and dust and other debris that she could barely smell anything at all.

Either it was so bad I've adjusted, Sakura thought, or we're not in an area where people have died.

She knew which it was that she hoped for and kept after her team.

One tunnel, two tunnels, three tunnels...

"This one," Chouji said, as they hit their fourth tunnel. "Now we just need to find the door. Ino, please?"

Ino murmured something under the breath and then bright pink circles surrounded her eyes. They were nearly a foot wide and Sakura _knew_ that Ino had better control over it than that.

_Which means,_ Sakura thought, her heart thumping, _that Ino weakened her control deliberately to give us more light to see by. _

They went to work. She and Chouji did most of the searching while Ino stared at the walls, her attention entirely on keeping their light source active.

At least, that was what Sakura thought.

"There," Ino said a minute later. Sakura paused as Chouji's head whipped up to look where Ino was pointing.

Up on the wall, just at the very edge of her vision, Sakura could see a corner of something that didn't look like the rest of the wall.

She squinted up at it and realized that she had no idea how on earth Ino had managed to spot it. Maybe, she thought, the jutsu she's using is letting her see better than us.

"Everyone up the wall," Chouji said. "Ino, maintain the jutsu until we've opened it."

Ino nodded, which sent their light skittering around the walls in a manner that Sakura rather thought horror stories could be made of.

She was up the wall in seconds though. Sakura followed as Chouji reached them. Sakura bit her lip as he came up behind them. They looked like a wreck and she wondered what she looked like.

But we've made it, she thought, glancing at her watch. We've got three minutes to go and there's nothing stopping us now.

Chouji got their numbers from Ino. Double checked he had the right combination of three, and then inserted them, one after the other, to the slot that was adjacent to the door.

There was a long, agonizing pause and then the door began to slide open. Ino dropped the jutsu, plunging them all into darkness, as the door opened all the way.

"Come on," Chouji said. "Ino, Sakura, go."

Ino went without another word. Sakura followed her, knowing that now wasn't the time to protest about him being all noble and letting the girls go first. He followed behind her.

The door shut behind them and locked.

Two minutes left.

And they were out of tunnels.

All around them lights lit up. They were muted, in dark oranges and yellows-enough to see by but nothing that would be too hard on their eyes.

Sakura had a moment to realize that and then the floor shifted and the room they found themselves in swirled in her vision and she felt a moment of pure panic before logic took over. Whatever was happening had been done to the room itself and had to be safe if they were using it to get the passing teams to their next destination.

Then her focus was entirely on not being sick as the room spun and spun and spun. She could tell as she balanced herself by grabbing hold of Chouji-she didn't have the chakra left to stick herself to the floor the way he and Ino had done-that they were moving.

Going up.

Sakura felt like crying. Up sounded like the best idea ever.

As abruptly as the room had moved, it stopped. There was a grinding sound and then the walls sank into the ground and they were left standing on a platform.

All around them, on other platforms, were the other teams who'd passed.

Sakura spotted Gaara's team, and Neji's team. Ima and Nobuko's teams had made it as well. She'd just spotted the team from Oto, which made her heart and her temper skip a beat both, when the clanging of a huge bell rang out, deafening them.

She clamped her hands to her ears and wasn't the only Genin to do so.

"Alright, my darlings," Maki said. "Everyone in this room passes the second exam."

Sakura sighed happily. Ino was rubbing at her face, trying to get the dirt off and, Sakura thought, more importantly, trying to get rid of the tear tracks. Chouji was studying the teams that were left with quiet determination.

"There's still thirty teams," he breathed, "that's too many for the semi-finals yet."

Sakura's head whipped up and she did her own counting. Her heart sank as she realized he was right. On one hand, that meant that they weren't going to be forced into one-on-one fights with each other this early.

On the other hand, that meant they had god knew what left to go of the exam.

Just don't let it be underground, Sakura begged. She wasn't sure if she could handle it, let along having to place Ino under there again. Ino was still far too quiet to be anything approaching normal.

Sakura couldn't read the expression on Ino's face.

"Thirty teams," Sakura replied, "that means we've got at least one more exam. Then they'll decide if they're going to need the semi-finals or not."

Ninety Genin left.

She shivered and wondered how many more of them would die in the next exam.

* * *

Thanks for reading!

**Important Characters in the Chuunin Exam Arc**

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 10**  
Sensei: Sarutobi Asuma  
1. Yamanaka Ino  
2. Haruno Sakura  
3. Akimichi Chouji

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 04**  
Sensei: Maito Gai  
1. Tenten  
2. Hyuuga Neji  
3. Rock Lee

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 03**  
Sensei: Ono Kioshi - Long black hair. Ninjutsu specialist. Good at water jutsu. Married. Recently assigned to take over Team 3.  
1. Chiba Yasuo - Brown eyes, advanced senses. Tracks via heat signatures.  
2. Nakamura Ima - Dark blue hair, likes to act stupid. Tracks via sound.  
3. Ito Akira - Red hair, stocky body & excellent at hiding. Recently recovered from a broken wrist. Tracks via light..

Notes: Sakura spent a few weeks on a mission with this team, while they were under the supervision of Shiranui Genma (prior to Kioshi being assigned to look after Team 3). This team is from the graduating class two years above Ino's year and one year above Neji's. Their strongest asset is their ability to seamlessly blend their chakra with each other's.

**[Leaf/Konoha] Team 06**  
Sensei: Hamada Reiko - 5'7" and curvy. Honey blonde hair, deep green eyes, and a warm voice. Close to Asuma's age but he doesn't remember her having been in the Academy.  
1. Fujiwara Nobuko - Vain. Quiet around unfamiliar people, cranky with her teammates. Heightened sense of smell. Father killed during Kyuubi's attack, mother died of pneumonia because they weren't able to afford the hospital bills to treat her.  
2. Koga Renjiro - Sarcastic. Able to pass chakra back and forth with Minoru to make a jutsu stronger. Grew up in the slums. Reiko took him in and put him through the Academy.  
3. Yamaguichi Minoru - Blue eyes, mild mannered and affable. Excellent liar. Able to pass chakra back and forth with Renjiro to make a jutsu stronger. Grew up in an affluent family and wanted for nothing.

Notes: This team is in the midst of plotting things with Kumo that are not in Konoha's best interest. This team is from the same graduating class as Neji, Tenten, and Lee.

**[Sand/Suna] Team Kazekage**  
Sensei: Baki  
1. Gaara  
2. Temari  
3. Kankurou

**[Cloud/Kumo] Team 02**  
Sensei: Sugiyama Joben - ?  
1. Kawano Sayuri - Tsubaki's twin sister. (Younger twin.) Grey eyes. Is good at barrier jutsu. Impatient and opinionated. Dark hair, dark skin.  
2. Suzuki Inori - Able to keep track of chakra signatures via a bracelet that shows the signatures in different colours.  
3. Saito Hideki - Blue eyes, orphan, head-hunter. His sleeves drape over his hands.

**[Cloud/Kumo] Team 03**  
Sensei: Kato Yukio - delicate-looking, right side of his face is scarred  
1. Kawano Tsubaki - Sayuri's twin sister. (Older twin.) Grey eyes. Specializes in genjutsu. Polite. Keeps her opinions to herself when it's prudent. Dark hair, dark skin.  
2. Yamazaki Taka - Abilities are well suited for a multi-person takedown. Calls Tsubaki 'Tsubaki-hime', which she hates.  
3. Arai Masanori - Logical and reasonable. Calls Tsubaki 'Tsubaki-hime', which she hates.

**[Sound/Oto] Team Oto**  
Sensei: Yamada Kaori - ?  
1. Goto Nariko - Has a whip that sucks up/soaks in blood.  
2. Kuroki Sasame - Has a crush on Hiro. Can use medical jutsu. Strangles people with their own hair. Brown eyes.  
3. Maruyama Hiro - Low self-esteem. Weakest of the three Oto-nin and aware of the fact. High pain tolerance.

This team doesn't deem it worth the risk to kill Sakura, even if she comes after them. They are, however, willing to kill Sakura's teammates.

**[Grass/Kusa] Team 01**  
Sensei: Abe Matsu - ?  
1. Ochi Sana - Has a bloodline limit involving her (not really) hair. Hair is deep brown w/red highlights. Doesn't like uninteresting things. Able to feel the presence of jutsu in the air. Prefers to work systematically through problems.  
2. Higa Kozue - Able to send his mind through stone/earth to search for things. Makes his voice sound low and sleepy. Prefers hunting over hiding. Uses darts that permanently paralyze their target. The darts can't be lost, they come back to him through his blood stream.  
3. Matsuo Haruki - Prefers to take a defensive approach to tasks. Enjoys fighting when it comes to that. Falls in love with worthy opponents.

This team has an interest in Takahara Jun, a Kumo Jounin.

**[Stone/Iwa] Team 10**  
Sensei: Mochizuki Botan - ?  
1. Maeda Midori - Green eyes (go orange when bloodline is in use), orange hair, freckles. Has a bloodline limit. Insane. Likes numbers. Claimed Ino as her new 'friend'. Small boned.  
2. Fujii Natsu - Smiles all the time. When he stops smiling, things get messy. Attractive.  
3. Murakami Ryu - Team leader/object of Midori's affection/Midori's keeper. Has touch telepathy. Attractive.

**Other Important People**

[Kumo]

Takahara Jun - Rank: ? Tall. Estimated age is between 20 to 25. Long grey hair. Hitae-ite sewn on the right sleeve of his uniform. Voice is smooth and unremarkable. Team Asuma's guide during the first exam. Assumed by Team Asuma to be a Chuunin. Team Matsu, led by Sana, knows of him as a Jounin.

? - Rank: Jounin. Proctor of the first exam. Has long hair done in cornrows and black eyes. His voice is very deep.

Maki - Rank: Jounin. Proctor of the second exam. Short with cotton-candy blue hair. Eyes are covered with bandages and her hitae-ite. Likes to call the Genin things like 'peaches' and 'cupcakes'.


End file.
